Baseball Blowup
by MoxiesdenLovesShandy
Summary: Sharon and Andy attend Matthew's baseball game but a case gets thrown at them and what they thought would be a nice weekend off turns into another investigation for the Major Crimes team.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

 **A/N:** Here's the next story! This story takes place a couple of months after the events in "Vanished". We join Sharon, Andy, and the rest of the group towards the end of Summer. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

Sharon woke up on a Saturday morning and rolled over on to her side. She reached out her hand to touch Andy but to her surprise, he wasn't there. She sat up and glanced over at the clock. It was 3:30 in the morning. Andy's side of the bed was cold. She swung her feet over the side of the bed and grabbed her phone. She saw that there was a text message from Andy an hour ago saying that he had dropped off Provenza at his house and was headed home.

Provenza had asked Andy to go out last night to watch the Dodgers game at a local hangout they used to frequent. Andy was reluctant to go but Sharon thought he should as he and Provenza hadn't had a chance to hang out since the whole Ally Moore incident three months ago. They were not on call this weekend which was another reason she encouraged him.

Sharon stood up from their bed and put her robe on. She made her way out of their room, in search of him. She walked over to Matthew's room and opened the door, slightly, to peek inside. She saw Matthew sleeping and Moxie on his bed, but no sign of Andy. She closed the door and headed down the stairs to see if he was downstairs.

The light in the kitchen was on and she saw the Dodgers hat that Andy wore out last night hanging up on the coat rack in the hallway. She knew he had made it home, now she just needed to find him. She decided to try the family room first and as she walked in, she saw him lying on the couch. As she got closer, she could smell the faintness of alcohol. A million things rushed through her mind at that moment.

She walked over to him and saw the bruise under his eye and the dried blood on his bottom lip. "Andy!" she whispered to him and touched his shoulder. He opened his eyes and looked at her standing over him. "What happened to you?" she asked him. He slowly sat up and rubbed his hand over his face, forgetting about the bruise for a second and took a deep breath.

"We may have gotten into a little altercation last night, or this morning," he told her, wincing as he glanced at his watch. "Why do you smell like alcohol?" she demanded as she stood there. "A guy dumped his beer on my clothes," he started to explain. "I was going to throw them in the wash when I got home, but the headache from this black eye I got won instead," he added. She stood there and he saw it in her eyes. "Sharon, I didn't drink," he said as he placed two fingers on the bridge of his nose. She believed him. "And how did you get that, exactly?" she asked as Andy looked up at her.

"I picked up Provenza last night to go to his favorite place to watch the Dodgers game. Everything was going fine. He ordered his drink. I had a cranberry soda and we watched the game," Andy explained to her. "About halfway through the seventh inning, a loud discussion could be heard at the table next to us. I'm not sure what they were discussing at the beginning but it was getting out of hand," he stated as she helped him stand up from the couch.

They walked out of the family room and towards the kitchen. He was still telling her what had happened. "So, I'm not sure who threw the first punch but somehow, Provenza and I get involved in the scuffle, or to put it better, I got involved in the scuffle as he just stood there trying to get the guy off of me," he told her as she went to the freezer to get an ice pack out.

"Anyway, the owner called the cops and patrol came out and arrested the group, Provenza informed them who we were and we went downtown with them, just to give them our statements and for them to take a picture of my eye," Andy said. "They could have taken your statement at the scene," she stated as she wrapped the ice pack in a kitchen towel. "I don't know, Provenza ended up filling a report out as well and we spoke to the Watch Commander," he told her. "Did you seek medical attention?" she asked as she turned around to look at him.

"No," he mumbled and then she took his hand and led him to the mud room where the washer and dryer were located. "Why not?" she questioned him. "Because," he shrugged his shoulders not really giving her an answer. She helped him strip out of his clothes. She pulled his shirt up over his head carefully not to injure him further. She looked his chest over to see if there were any other bruises on him. "It's just my eye," he whispered to her. She looked at his eyes to see if he had a possible concussion but his eyes looked normal in size.

She then threw his shirt in the washer. His pants and boxers joined them shortly after. She handed him a clean pair of boxers and his sweatpants from the dryer. He put them on and watched her take the rest of the laundry out of the dryer and place it in the basket. She then started the washer.

She led him back into the kitchen and picked up the ice pack she had prepared. "Come on," she said to him as she returned to the family room. He followed her and sat back down on the couch. She placed the ice pack on his eye and he hissed at the coldness. "Keep that on," she told him and then she reached over to the coffee table and picked up his phone. "What are you doing?" he asked her as he watched her with one eye open. "Calling my second in command," she simply said and clicked on Provenza's name. Andy laid his head on the back of the couch and let out a small groan.

Provenza reached for his phone as it blared on his night stand. "We better not have a call out," he mumbled as he tried not to wake Patrice. He squinted at the name on the phone and saw it was Andy calling him. "Hello?" he answered the phone expecting it to be Andy. "Lieutenant Provenza, why does my husband have a black eye?" she demanded. "Ye gods!" Provenza groaned as he situated himself and sat up.

"Commander, now there's a perfectly good explanation for that," he tried explaining to Sharon. Andy held the ice pack to his eye and watched Sharon stand next to the couch with her hand on her hip. "Oh, I already heard it!" Sharon said back to Provenza. "I'd like to know why you didn't call me when this happened?" she asked him. "Oh, well, we didn't notice his eye turning black until we got to Central. After we were done there, I just told him to drive me home and get back home to you," he answered her.

Provenza got out of bed and walked out of the bedroom so that Patrice didn't wake up. "Do you want to hear the story or did Flynn tell you that already?" he asked her as he closed the bedroom door and walked into the hallway. "Andy told me that there were a group of guys that were sitting at the table next to you and they got too rowdy and started a fight. He did not tell me exactly how he got a black eye," Sharon said to Provenza as she kept her eyes on Andy sitting on the couch.

"Yes, right, the group of guys were loud and started a fight with another guy. This happened right next to us and Flynn stepped in and tried to calm down the situation. Things escalated quickly and the next thing I saw was Flynn getting punched in the face and the guy jumping on top of him," Provenza started to explain. "Well the cops came and broke it up. They arrested the guys who started the fight and I informed them who we were. They asked us to come down to the station with them and we did," he stated.

"I mean we didn't even get to see the rest of the Dodgers game and it was tied going into the seventh inning!" Provenza added although Sharon was not amused. "The next time you two get into a fight, I would appreciate being notified about it," Sharon said. "Of course, Commander," Provenza stated. "Good night Lieutenant," Sharon said and then hung up Andy's phone.

She turned her attention back to Andy as he sat there on the couch holding the ice pack to his eye. "Here, let me see it," she said softly as she gently removed the ice pack from his eye. She looked at him and shook her head. She gently touched his face and around his eye. Andy hissed again and his face winced. "Sorry," she whispered to him. "No, I'm the one who should be sorry," he said to her.

"Here, why don't we go upstairs, you can sleep in a bed so that your back isn't hurting you when you're sitting on the bleachers watching Matthew's baseball game at 10 am. "Oh, that's right," Andy groaned as Sharon helped him stand up from the couch and they walked over to the stairs. "I forgot he had a game this morning," he mumbled to her as they climbed the stairs to head to their room.

This would be Matthew's eighth game since he started his little league this summer. And it would be the third game that they would be able to attend since they weren't on call this weekend. Matthew had been taken to his other games by Rusty or Nicole when Sharon and Andy couldn't make it due to work. He didn't mind that but always enjoyed it when they were able to come cheer him and his team.

Andy climbed into bed and was joined a couple seconds later by Sharon. She waited until he was settled in before finding her usual spot, curled up into his side and laid her head on his right shoulder. Her hand was running slow circles on his chest and his breathing pattern changed. She could tell he was falling asleep as she kept doing that until she heard him lightly snoring.

She worried about him. He would always be an alcoholic. That's what he told her in the beginning, and she knew that. He's worked hard over the years to keep his sobriety. Why did she think that he would take a drink, especially last night when he went out with Provenza to watch a Dodgers game? She trusted him with everything so that should not be an issue.

If he was going to drink it would have been after they found that nine year old boy buried in the state park, killed by his own father because he didn't want his ex-wife to have custody of the child. He had gone to his meeting the next night when they came home after closing that case. So why did she automatically jump to the conclusion that he would drink last night?

Could that still haunt her from her previous marriage to Jack? She thought about that. Andy was definitely not Jack, in any way. She sighed and felt Andy's arms pull her in closer to him. She closed her eyes and eventually fell asleep.

That morning, Andy woke up with a headache and let out a slight groan. Sharon shifted in his arms and lifted her head up to look at him. "Are you in pain?" she asked him as she lightly touched his face. "I have a headache," he mumbled as he tried to sit up. Sharon shifted off of him. He then sat all the way up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He sat there for a couple of minutes. "Do you want me to get you anything?" she asked as she rubbed his back.

"Yeah, a time machine so I can re-do last night and not go out with Provenza," he chuckled. She smiled and then wrapped her arms around his back. "I'm sorry," she said to him as she gave him a kiss on his neck. "I'll go downstairs and get you some Tylenol and another ice pack, why don't you go take a shower and let the water relax you a bit," she told him. "You could relax me," he said to her as he tried to turn around.

She smiled as she moved off of the bed and stood in front of him. "Your eye doesn't look that bad, I thought it would be much worse this morning," she stated as she looked at him. "Yeah, well," he started to say and then they both heard a knock on their door. Sharon walked over to their door and opened it.

Matthew was standing outside in the hallway with his baseball uniform on already. "Good morning, sweetie," she greeted him as he walked into their room. "I'm going to go get you that stuff. I'll be right back. Be careful with Dad, Matthew," she said as she left their room. Matthew walked over to Andy. "Why did Mom say to be careful with you?" he asked Andy as he walked closer to him.

"What happened to your eye?" he asked him. "Yeah, well, last night when I went out with your Uncle Louie, there was a fight at the place we were at and I got punched trying to break it up," Andy explained to him. Matthew sat on the bed next to him. "Does it hurt?" he asked. "A little bit, but Mom is going to bring something for the pain," Andy stated and then stood up from the bed.

"So, how about you. Are you ready for your game this morning?" Andy asked him as he walked over to the bathroom. Matthew followed him and watched Andy look in the mirror inside the room. "Yes! I think we are going to win this morning. We are playing the Cardinals and they aren't a very good team," Matthew explained as he continued to watch Andy. "Well, never underestimate a team due to their win-loss record, they just might surprise you in the end," Andy told him.

Andy kept looking at his eye in the mirror. It was now turning a nice purple shade color underneath his eye. "Are you and Mom going to be at the game?" Matthew asked him as he hung out in the bathroom. "Yes, we will be taking you there and watching your game," Andy smiled at him. "Yeah!" Matthew was excited to hear that. "Why don't you go downstairs and get some breakfast while I get ready and I'll meet you down there," Andy told him so that he could take a quick shower. "Okay," Matthew said and then walked out of the bedroom.

Andy walked over to the shower and turned the water on. A few seconds later, he was still standing outside when Sharon came back in to their room. "Here is some Tylenol, and an ice pack for when you are done with your shower," she said to him as she placed both items on the sink shelf. "Thank you," he muttered to her as he stripped down. "I'm going to go help Matthew now, holler if you need anything else," she smiled to him and blew him a kiss.

He smiled as he watched her walk away and then he turned to step into the shower. The water felt good as it pounded his aching back and muscles. As he was standing in the shower, he thought back to their conversation this morning. Why did Sharon automatically jump to the conclusion that he had a drink? "Because you smelled like alcohol, you idiot," he scoffed to himself. But did she think that after twenty years of sobriety, he would throw it away for one night out with Provenza?

Andy let the water relax his muscles and then he stepped out of the shower and dried himself off. He then took the Tylenol that Sharon had left him and got dressed. Wearing a Dodgers t-shirt and a pair of jeans, he headed down the stairs carrying the icepack in his hand. Sharon looked at him as he entered the kitchen. "The icepack belongs on your eye, not your hand," she sweetly said to him. "I know," he sighed as he sat down at the kitchen table and then placed the icepack against his eye.

"The swelling went down so I don't know why I still need this," he said as he placed the icepack on his black eye. Matthew finished eating his breakfast. "I'm going to take Moxie out in the yard," he rushed as he placed his bowl in the sink and then ran to the back door. Andy and Sharon watched Matthew and Sharon shook her head. She then turned to Andy and gave him a little smile.

"How are you feeling now?" she asked him as she grabbed his hand and traced her thumb over his fingers. "Still sore but I'm getting better by the minute," he smiled at her. He then took his icepack off and placed it on the table. Sharon stood up and let go of his hand. "What would you like for breakfast?" she asked him. "Hmm, how much time do we have?" he said and she shook her head. "How about some fruit and cereal?" she said to him. "Fine," he sighed and watched her walk over to the island where the bowl of fruit was sitting.

Sharon sat back down and ate breakfast with Andy before she retreated upstairs to get herself ready for Matthew's game. She took a quick shower and got dressed in a pair of jeans and a Dodgers shirt so that she matched Andy. She then headed downstairs and Andy was filling up a water bottle for Matthew. Andy turned around and saw Sharon walk into the kitchen. She smiled and he smiled back at her. She walked over to him and gave him a kiss on his cheek. "Hopefully your eye heals before we go back to work on Monday," she said to him and then went to get Matthew's baseball bag.

Matthew's baseball game started at ten o'clock and they arrived at the ball park around nine-thirty. Matthew ran off to join his team and Sharon and Andy had found a spot on the first row of bleachers to sit. Sharon sat next to Andy and they held hands as they watched Matthew's team warm up for the game. "I'm surprised Rusty didn't want to come to this morning's game," Andy said as he continued his light caress of her hand. "Hmm, he said he had some things to do this morning to get himself ready for a big case that Andrea has on Monday," Sharon said as she leaned her head against his shoulder.

Andy glanced over at Sharon as she watched Matthew and the other kids warm up. He decided that he needed to ask her why she jumped to the conclusion she did this morning when she saw him on the couch. "Sharon?" he quietly said her name bringing her out of her thoughts. She looked at him. "Why did you think I would throw everything away for a drink last night?" he asked her, not sugar coating it at all. She sighed at his bluntness and licked her lips but didn't answer him.

He looked into her eyes. "I'm not Jack," he said and she knew that. "I know," she said as she ran her free hand against his arm. "Hi Sharon, Andy!" one of the kid's mothers called out to them as she made her way up the bleachers. Sharon looked over and waved at the woman. She then returned her focus to Andy. "I'm sorry that I jumped to that conclusion right away, and didn't give you the chance to explain," she told him. He looked at her and then gave her a quick kiss on her lips. "I just want to make sure we're okay," he whispered to her. "We are," she smiled at him.

The bleachers started to fill up with parents and the game was getting ready to start. Matthew was playing center field and everyone clapped as his team took to the field. The pitcher on Matthew's team threw his first pitch and the game was underway.

Meanwhile, a food vendor was at the park setting up for the day. He was moving things around and wheeled his cart to the designated spot. He set everything up and waited for his first customers to show up. He had a perfect outfield view of the game that was currently going on. He reached down to turn the propane tank on and started to get things ready. He did not see the wire going around the tank to the back where there was a small box attached to it.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 2

The game was underway and in the second inning, Matthew's team had scored a run when he had hit a double. Sharon and Andy were both cheering for Matthew. Andy stood up from the bleachers and called his name. "Matthew!" he yelled and Matthew looked over at him. Andy then gave him a thumbs up and Matthew returned his gesture with a thumbs up of his own. Sharon pulled on Andy's shirt and got him to sit back down. "What?" he said as he joined her on the bleacher. Sharon just shook her head and they continued to watch the game.

The other team ended up tying the game in the fourth inning. As Matthew's team came off the field and into their dugout, the other team was slow to take the field. "What do you want to do when this game is over?" Andy asked Sharon. "I thought we could go grocery shopping and then spend the afternoon relaxing in the backyard and pool. Maybe invite Nicole and the boys over for a cookout?" she said as she smiled at him. He was picturing Sharon in her swimsuit when there was a bright flash of light across the field and a loud boom.

Andy pulled Sharon to the ground and landed on top of her as the explosion rocked the park. He glanced up to see where Matthew and the other boys were and they were all huddled in their dugouts. "Shit," Sharon muttered as Andy was still on top of her. Andy looked behind them at the huge fireball that shot up into the sky afterwards. Andy moved off of Sharon and helped her up. "Are you okay?" he asked her but she couldn't hear him because her ears were ringing from the blast.

She looked at him and tried to make out what he was asking her. "Are you okay?" he asked again. This time she read his lips and nodded her head slowly. It seemed to her like everything was moving in slow motion. She looked towards the field and saw Matthew's team in the dugout. She turned to Andy. "I'll make sure he's okay, call it in," Sharon said as she hurried over to where the kids were standing.

Andy nodded, pulled his phone out of his pocket, and quickly dialed 911. He informed the operator what happened and they were dispatching emergency personnel to the scene. He then glanced over and saw Sharon hugging Matthew, making sure he was okay. Her eyes met Andy's and she nodded to him. He then turned to the fireball and a million things started running through his mind. 'Was this a bombing?' he thought. 'Were there more?' he thought as he had to make sure the scene was secured for everyone there, especially Sharon and Matthew.

He pulled out his phone and dialed his contact in Operations. "Barry, it's Andy Flynn, an explosion just happened at Ladera ballfields," he started to say as he turned around and saw Sharon speaking to all of the parents there. "I'll get the Bomb Squad out there," Barry said and then Andy hung up his phone. He then saw fire trucks arriving at the scene. He walked over to where Sharon and Matthew were standing. "We need to secure the area," he said to her and she nodded. "I have this end," she said and he understood.

Andy and another father ran towards the explosion site. "LAFD, you?" the man called out to Andy. "LAPD," Andy called out to him as they approached the scene. They couldn't get close because the heat from the fire was too much for them. "Damn, there's a body here," the man stated to Andy as they stood there. Then the other man went over towards the fire truck to assist. Andy looked at the scene. The vendor cart was torn apart and metal was everywhere. The fire department was putting out the fire. The LAFD Captain walked over to where Andy was standing.

Andy flashed his badge to him and he nodded. "Looks like a dead body in the mess," the Captain said to him and Andy nodded. "I have the Bomb Squad coming to this location to make sure there are no other surprises here," Andy informed the Captain. Andy looked around to see if there were any other possible targets but he didn't see anything else. Two patrol officers walked over to where Andy was standing and Andy flashed them his badge. "I want you to set up a secured perimeter after the fire is out, understand?" he stated to the officers. "Yes sir," they said and then Andy returned to where Sharon and Matthew were.

"Dad!" Matthew called out from Sharon's arms and he ran over to meet him. Andy welcomed him in his arms. "Hey, you okay?" Andy asked him. "I'm okay," Matthew replied. Andy quickly looked him over as he knew Sharon had done the same thing. Andy didn't want to think what would have happened had the explosion happened a minute later as they were taking the field. "Why don't you sit down over here while I go talk to your Mom," Andy gestured to a safer area as he glanced at Sharon.

Matthew sat down underneath the tree and Andy walked over to Sharon. "Are you okay?" he asked her in a serious tone. "Yeah, I'm okay," she replied with a slight grimace. "There's definitely a body there, but I don't know if it's identifiable," Andy told her. "Once the fire department is finished with controlling the area and making it safe, I have two patrol officers holding tight over there," he explained to her as he pointed to the area. Sharon nodded. "Did you notify anyone else?" she asked him. "The Bomb Squad is on their way as well," he said.

Sharon pulled out her phone and pressed on Provenza's name. She waited for him to answer the phone. "Commander, I am so sorry again with what happened last night," he said as he answered his phone. "Lieutenant, I appreciate the apology again but that's not why I'm calling you," Sharon stated and then explained to Provenza what had occurred at the baseball game.

Andy spoke to one of Matthew's coaches while Sharon was on the phone with Provenza. A lot of parents were also gathering there. "We are going to finish this game at a later date," he told Andy and the rest of the parents. He then walked back to the benches and gathered the equipment. Andy walked over to where Matthew was still sitting and knelt down on the grass. "So buddy, your coach said that you'll finish this game another day," Andy said as he played with Matthew's baseball hat.

"What do you think happened?" Matthew asked him as he looked towards the outfield. The firefighters were still there but the fire was mostly extinguished. "I don't know, but if I know your Mom, she's already starting an investigation," Andy said as he glanced over at Sharon. Matthew sat there and played with his baseball glove while Andy joined Sharon behind the bleachers.

She hung up her phone as Andy walked towards her. "I just spoke with Chief Mason, he gave us the green light to investigate this as a possible homicide for right now, until we find something stating otherwise," she told him. He went to grab her hand and noticed that she was slightly trembling. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked her and she nodded yes. "You're trembling," he whispered. "My ears were ringing earlier," she whispered. "Is that why you were slow to respond to me?" he asked and she nodded. "I'm glad no kids were on the field when this happened," he told her.

"I know, I can't stop thinking about Matthew being out in center field when this happened," she confessed to him. She shook her head and took a deep breath. "Provenza and the rest of the team should be here shortly. We need to get Matthew home somehow," she stated as she lifted her hand to her face and rubbed her eyes.

"We can see if Rusty can pick him up," he suggested as he pulled out his phone and texted him. 'Seriously?! Is everyone okay there?' Rusty replied in a text to Andy. 'We are fine, need you to pick Matthew up here and take him home' Andy texted back. 'Give me fifteen minutes, just got done at the law library here,' Rusty texted back and Andy placed his phone back in his pocket of his jeans.

"Rusty's going to come get him," he said to Sharon as they walked over to Matthew. "Matthew, Rusty is going to pick you up and take you home while Daddy and I stay here," Sharon said as she unzipped Matthew's baseball bag and handed him his gym shoes. Matthew took his baseball cleats off and placed his shoes inside the bag. "But I want to stay here with you and Daddy," Matthew pleaded with her. Sharon smiled.

"Sorry kiddo, but you won't be able to do that. Mommy and I are going to be here for a while," Andy told him and then saw Provenza walking over to where they were. Matthew saw where Andy was looking and stood up after tying his shoes. "Uncle Louie!" he said, excited to see him. Provenza walked up to them and Matthew gave him a hug. "Hey Matthew," Provenza stated and then glanced at Andy.

"Your eye doesn't look that bad this morning," Provenza informed him but Andy shook his head at him. Sharon saw that exchange between the two and decided to step in. "Lieutenant," she said to Provenza and he cleared his throat. "Commander, what do we know so far?" he asked her. "Matthew's baseball game started around ten o'clock this morning," Andy said as he glanced at his watch.

"It was the end of the fourth inning when the vendor cart exploded," Sharon stated to Provenza as he listened. "Yes, but it wasn't just a propane tank exploding, this was something more than that," Andy made an effort to point that out to them. "Are you thinking a bomb?" Provenza quietly asked him as he knew Matthew was listening to their conversation. "I wouldn't rule it out," Andy answered as he looked at Sharon and then Provenza.

They then glanced behind them and saw Lieutenant Franklin and members of the Bomb Squad with him walking towards them. "Lieutenant Franklin," Sharon said as she shook his hand. "Commander, what do we know so far?" Lieutenant Franklin asked her and nodded to Andy and Provenza. Sharon explained to him as they walked away from Andy and Provenza. Andy gave the Lieutenant a look as he spoke to Sharon. "Would you knock it off, Flynn!" Provenza said as he tapped Andy's shoulder. "What?" Andy said as he looked at him.

"You have nothing to worry about with Franklin, the Commander wouldn't give him the time of day if he asked it," Provenza said to Andy as they watched the Lieutenant and Sharon walk towards the first base area. "Why would I be worried?" Andy asked him as he kept glancing at Sharon. "Dad?" Matthew asked Andy which broke him out of his staring contest. Andy turned to Matthew and knelt down. "What is it buddy?" he asked him. "I'm hungry," Matthew replied and Andy nodded. "When Rusty gets here, he'll take you someplace to get something to eat," Andy said as he stood back up.

"My team will clear the area and make sure there are no more potential bombs here, Commander," Lieutenant Franklin said and then signaled his guys to follow him over to the area that was still being worked on by the Fire Department. "There are two patrol officers over there as well," she said to him as he walked off. Sharon then noticed Andy and Provenza walking towards her. She quickly glanced at Matthew as he was still sitting where Andy told him to stay.

The rest of the team showed up at the field along with SID to go over the crime scene. The fire was extinguished and the fire department was just cleaning up their equipment. Sharon was speaking with an officer from SID when Rusty showed up. Andy glanced up from where he was to see him approaching the area. "Hey, so what happened here?" Rusty asked Andy as he made his way over to him. "We're trying to figure that out," Andy replied.

"Woah! What happened to your eye, Lieutenant?" Rusty asked Andy as he saw his black eye. "Don't ask," he mumbled and walked over to where Matthew was sitting. "Did Mom hit you?" Rusty asked him quietly. "No, what? Why would you say that?" Andy looked at him but Rusty shrugged his shoulders.

"Was it from the blast?" he asked him. "No, it wasn't," Andy said and left it as that. "Stop on the way home and get something for lunch, okay?" Andy said to Rusty as he handed him some money. "Hey Matthew, ready to go?" Rusty asked him. Matthew nodded and gave Andy a hug before Rusty took him home. "Be good," Andy told him and then watched them leave the area.

Andy walked over to join Sharon. "Rusty picked up Matthew," he informed her as he stood there watching the scene. "If this was a bomb, are there more somewhere?" Sharon asked him. "If there are then what's the motive behind it?" Andy asked and then they headed over to be closer to the scene. Lieutenant Franklin gave the 'all-clear' signal to them and his team left the area. Andy waved good-bye to the Lieutenant as they headed to where the rest of the team was located.

Julio looked up from what he was doing to see Andy and Sharon walking over to them. Mike was busy looking at what was left of the vendor cart to see if they could piece it together. "What happened to your eye, sir?" Julio asked Andy. Andy shook his head. "Ask Provenza," he stated and then pointed to where Provenza was standing. "Lieutenant Provenza hit you?" Julio asked with a slight chuckle. "Ha ha, no," Andy muttered as he watched Sharon walk over to where Mike was kneeling.

"What do we have so far, Mike?" Sharon asked him as she knelt down to his level. "Well, I'm thinking the explosion was triggered by some sort of timer, judging by this plastic box here," he said as he picked up the mangled piece of plastic to show Sharon. "It doesn't look to me that this bomb was set off to inflict harm on other people," he added as he stood up and pointed to the area. "Usually with that, we would see shrapnel or other small objects, nails, bb's, in the area of the blast, but not here," he stated and Sharon nodded.

"Are we thinking this blast was directed solely on the person who owned this vendor stand?" Provenza asked as he walked over to Sharon and Mike. "It's possible," Mike stated. Sharon looked around the park. There were no other vendors in the area. "We'll need to find out if this was the only park that this vendor had on their list," Sharon said and Mike nodded in agreement.

Sharon looked at Provenza as Amy walked over to them. "The vendor's name was Javier Garcia, 42, single, resided in Angelino Heights," she stated as she then walked over with them to see Kendall. Kendall was examining what was left of the body. For the most part, the body was still intact, minus a leg and arm that they quickly found. "Kendall, are we going to be able to get a positive ID with the body?" Provenza asked him as he placed his handkerchief over his mouth. Sharon covered her mouth with her sleeve of her sweatshirt. The smell of a burnt body was never good.

Kendall looked up at Provenza from where he was kneeling and removed his face mask. "Judging by how his fingers are burnt, along with the rest of his body, I'm not sure. Dr. Morales may need some time with this one," he said. Provenza looked at Sharon. "Oh, before I forget, here is his phone, or what's left of it," Kendall said as he held up a damaged cell phone. Amy held up an evidence bag and Kendall placed the phone inside the bag. Kendall then placed the mask back over his mouth and continued his work. Provenza, Sharon, and Amy quickly walked away from the body and Kendall and headed over to where Andy was standing.

Amy looked at Andy's face. "Lieutenant, what happened to your eye?" she asked him. He looked at her and then at Provenza. "Ask him," he mumbled as he pointed to Provenza. "Would you knock it off Flynn! I asked you to watch the game with me, how was I supposed to know there would be a fight breaking out there," Provenza said and then Sharon looked at him. "Ah, yes, speaking of fights, I need you to come with me, Lieutenant," Sharon said to Provenza and she started to walk away.

Provenza watched as Sharon walked away from them and he stood there. "What did you do to her, Flynn?" he asked Andy. "Me? Oh no, I think this is all you my friend," Andy said as he patted Provenza on the back. Provenza gulped and headed over to where Sharon had went.

As he approached her, Provenza could tell the Sharon was still ticked off about the incident last night. "Lieutenant, there are many things I would like to know about what happened last night," Sharon started off saying. "But, this isn't the place for it" Provenza was shocked as he listened to her. He stood there like he was about to be scolded by a parent. "We will discuss the matter in my office when we get back," she said and then walked towards Andy and Amy.

Provenza cleared his throat and followed her back, giving a glare at Andy as he listened to Sharon give out orders for what she wanted done. "Let's head back to the office and see what we can make of this with what we have already," Sharon said and they all nodded in agreement. Provenza turned around to get Julio and Mike's attention across the field. "What did you tell her!" he said in a hushed tone. Andy looked at his friend. "The truth," he hushed back to him. "Something's up then because she wants a meeting with me when we get back to the office," Provenza told Andy.

Andy turned around to see where Sharon walked off to. "She did ask me if I had a drink," he wondered if that had anything to do with the impromptu meeting she called with Provenza. "You think she doesn't trust you?" Provenza asked him, worried about the two. "She trusts me, maybe she wants to hear it from somebody else? I don't know," Andy said, now worried. "Relax, relax, we both know you didn't have a drink last night, you haven't had one in twenty plus years now," Provenza said trying to calm down Andy.

Andy had caught up with Sharon who was standing by the bleachers on her phone. "No sir, I don't think the FBI needs to be involved in this yet," he overheard her say. He figured she was talking with Chief Mason. She turned around to look at him as she continued to speak on the phone. "Yes sir," she said and then she hung up her phone and shook her head. "He thinks we should get the feds involved?" Andy asked her. "I told him no, this is ours for now but if he wants the federal government involved, he's going to call for them," Sharon said as she sighed.

Andy gently touched her arm. "Let's get to the office, the quicker we solve this case, the quicker we can get back to having a day off," Andy told her. "How's your eye doing?" she asked him as they walked over to where they had parked this morning. "It's fine, doesn't hurt at all," he said but somehow Sharon didn't believe him with that. "Are you sure?" she asked him as they reached their car. He opened her door for her and leaned on the back of it. "Yes, would you please stop worrying about it?" he said to her and gave her his classic smile.

She glanced at him as he smiled at her. That always got her every time. She nodded as he closed the door and went around to the other side of the car to get in. "So Provenza's pretty worried about what you want to talk about when we get back to the office," Andy chuckled as he started the car. Sharon shook her head but didn't answer Andy.

As they drove over to the PAB, the ride was silent. Sharon was looking out the window as Andy drove. He cleared his throat before he spoke. "You do trust me, right?" he asked her. "Of course I do," Sharon stated as she looked at him. He continued to drive and sighed at her response. "You know I wouldn't," he started to say but she cut him off. "Andy, you have your support system, your sponsor, me, the kids, AA. I trust you," she said to him as she grabbed his free hand and held it.

"Well then how come you didn't last night?" he said as he pulled into the parking garage. This time Sharon let out a long sigh. "I thought we went over this before the game started this morning?" Sharon said, and hoped she didn't sound too angry as she said it. "We did, but," Andy stopped as he pulled into the parking spot and turned off the car. He looked down and closed his eyes.

"I've told you before, I know what I have to lose, and I'm not going to do anything to compromise that, Sharon. I love you and I love our children, and I will fight for you and them," he said quietly as they still sat in the car. Sharon turned in her seat to better face Andy. She then took her hands and cupped his face so that he would look at her. "I know that Andy," she whispered as she looked into his eyes. He leaned in and kissed her sweetly on her lips.

Her phone beeped just then, interrupting their little moment as they sat there in the parking garage. He pulled back and she stared at him. Her phone beeped again and this time she pulled it out of her pocket and glanced at it. It was a text message from Rusty saying that he was taking Matthew out for burgers. She responded to him and then placed her phone back in her pocket. "Rusty's taking Matthew out for burgers now," she said as Andy wondered what the message was.

"I guess this means we're not grocery shopping or spending the rest of the day in the pool," Andy muttered before Sharon could get out of the car. "Hmm, I know it's way past lunch time but we could order something here, and then if you behave yourself, maybe we can go for a swim later on," she said as she started to climb out of the car. Andy grabbed her hand before she got out. She turned to him and he smiled. She smiled back and he then let go of her hand to get out of the car himself.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 3

Provenza waited patiently in Sharon's office. He wondered what she wanted to discuss to with him. He heard Andy and Sharon discussing lunch as they stepped into the office. "Julio, order some pizzas for the team, make sure one of them is vegetarian," she told him and he nodded. She looked around the office but didn't see Lieutenant Provenza. "He's waiting for you in your office, ma'am," Julio informed Sharon and Sharon walked to her office.

"So, sir are you going to tell us how you got your black eye?" Julio asked Andy as he watched Sharon close the door to her office. Mike, Amy, and Buzz all gathered around Julio's desk and when Andy turned around to face Julio, he saw everyone else there as well. "Alright, if you must know, Provenza and I went out to watch the game last night, things got a little rowdy at the table next to us, I tried breaking up the fight and got met with a fist to the face instead," Andy told them.

"Oh," Julio stated and Andy looked at him and then at the rest of the group. "You guys sound disappointed in that," Andy said to them. "Well, we thought it was a little more exciting, Lieutenant, that's all," Amy said to him. "Yeah, well sorry to disappoint you guys but that's what happened," he said as he glanced over at Sharon's office.

In Sharon's office, Provenza was sitting down across from Sharon's desk. He heard her walk into her office and shut the door behind her. He didn't remember ever feeling this nervous when she was around. Well maybe just one time, but that was more because he despised her when she was in FID. "Lieutenant," she said as she sat down at her desk.

"Now listen, Sharon, uh, Commander, we had nothing to do with getting into that fight. Flynn and I were minding our own business when the group next to us got a little rowdy," Provenza started explaining to her and she held up her hand. "I know Lieutenant, that's not why I asked you in here," Sharon said. "It's not?" Provenza stated and gave a dumbfounded look on his face.

"I'd like to know why you didn't seek medical attention for Andy?" Sharon said in a stern voice. "He was fine, just a bruise, that's all," Provenza answered. "Besides, he didn't complain until he dropped me off, and I told him to go home and put some ice on it," he added. "Hmm, I see," Sharon started as she looked at Provenza. "Just a bruise," she repeated quietly and then cleared her throat. Provenza knew what was going to happen next and braced himself for the onslaught.

"And I suppose it was just a blood clot two years ago, right? Before that, it was a few cracked ribs, fainting at the ex-wife's house, his high blood pressure, almost getting stabbed to death, getting shot a few months ago, oh and let's not forget the almost heart attack he had right here in the office last year," she said as her voice cracked a little. "But he called you when he got stabbed and you called the ambulance for him, and all those other incidences you were right there with him, for some anyway," Provenza said and then stopped talking. He knew he wasn't going to win this argument so he just sat there looking at her. "He didn't want you to worry," Provenza finally said after a moment of silence in her office. "Seems like we've had this conversation before, Lieutenant," she said and Provenza looked at the floor of her office.

"You know I worry about him, whether he likes that or not," Sharon said as she leaned forward onto her desk. "Do you want me to take him for an x-ray now?" he asked her not knowing what she wanted. "No," Sharon shook her head. "We filed a report last night after the cops arrested the persons that started the fight," he said as he shifted in his seat. "I know, he told me. And it looks like it has graced my desk," Sharon said as she picked up the report in question.

"We have a case to solve, Lieutenant," she said as she looked at him. He nodded and then stood up. "Next time, please get him to seek medical attention. I don't care if it's for a cut and you have to drag him there, kicking and screaming," she told him as he started to walk towards the door. "Yes Commander," Provenza stated and then walked out of her office.

Andy stared at his friend as he left Sharon's office. "So, what did she want?" he said as he stood up and followed Provenza over to his desk. Provenza looked around the room and then gestured for Andy to follow him out into the hallway. "She gave me direct orders that if you ever get hurt, punched, or scraped again, to take you to a doctor right away instead of telling you to go home," Provenza explained. Andy scoffed. "That's it?" he chuckled.

"What do you mean, that's it? That woman in there is worried about you!" Provenza yelled at him, but not loud enough to make a scene as there were people passing in the hallway. "You don't think I know that?" Andy hissed at him as he watched people move through the area where they were standing. That's when they both heard the throat clearing and turned around to see Sharon standing in the hallway with them.

"Lieutenants, I hope you are discussing how to go about solving this explosion at the park?" she said as she stood there with her hands on her hips. "Yes Commander, I was just telling Flynn here that we need to look at all possible angles on this case," Provenza said as he walked past Sharon and headed back inside the Murder Room. Sharon looked at Andy as he stood there. His arms folded against his chest. He stared back at her.

Julio walked off the elevator carrying the pizzas and he saw Andy and Sharon standing in the hallway. "Lieutenant, Commander, pizzas are here," he said to them as he made his way into the Murder Room. Sharon and Andy both acknowledged Julio but still stood outside the office. "I know you're worried about me," Andy said quietly. "But, you don't have to Sharon," he added as he shifted his feet. He looked at her as those words came out of his mouth. She was hurt. He saw a little change in her face and realized the words he said didn't come out how he was expecting them to.

"I'll always worry about you," she said above a whisper and then took a deep breath. They stood there in front of each other and then Andy took the first step and walked over to the office door. The mood between them had changed since their conversation in the car before they arrived in the office. As he approached the door, he was going to just walk through and leave her outside, but something told him to stop and hold the door open for her. She turned around and without saying anything more, walked through the door that Andy held open and joined the rest of the team.

As they sat down in the Murder Room and ate pizza, they discussed the particulars of the case so far. "Mike, do we know what type of incidenary device that was?" Sharon asked him as she finished her piece of pizza. Mike placed the phone that belonged to Javier back on his desk and leaned back in his chair. "Well, Commander, to me it looked like a regular timer you would have for your house to turn your lights on and off. Somehow, it was modified a little because instead of where the plug would usually go, it was wired," Mike explained.

"What do we know about the background on Mr. Javier Garcia?" Sharon asked. "Well, besides residing in Angelino Heights, I did some checking and it looked like he might have been involved in a gang, ma'am," Julio started to say as he handed her a recent photo of the guy. "According to my friends in Gang Intelligence, Javier here was a former member of the Echo Park Locos and he had the tattoos to prove that," Julio added.

"So is this gang on gang?" Provenza asked. "Not likely, Lieutenant. Gangs would rather shoot one another, than blow them up," Julio answered as he turned his chair to face his desk again. "But, has there been this kind of violence in gangs?" Sharon asked. "Maybe Javier here crossed the wrong person," Andy chimed in on the discussion. Sharon looked at him and he looked at her. "Maybe," she said. "Where are we with his financials and other checks?" Sharon asked.

"Still running them but Javier did serve a lot of time in jail in the early nineties for robbery, vehicle theft, manslaughter," Amy stated as she read off his arrest report. "Commander, how do we even know the body that was discovered is even this Javier? It could be someone else?" Provenza asked. "We don't Lieutenant," Sharon answered.

"But, we do have the singed ID that was pulled from the body, I looked up the info from the DMV and it looks like a match," Mike added as he held up the paper and a copy of the ID. "And Dr. Morales could do a positive ID through dental records, which we would have access to since he did serve time in prison," Sharon added to justify Provenza's claim.

"Meanwhile, let's put out an alert to all food vendors in the city to have them check their tanks for any tampering of any kind and have them report it to the tip line," Sharon told the team and then walked back into her office. She sat down in her chair and rubbed her eyes. This was not how she pictured their Saturday to go. They were supposed to enjoy Matthew's baseball game and then have a nice relaxing weekend, not starting another investigation.

An hour later, there was a knock on Sharon's door. "Yes?" she said and the door opened. Andy stepped inside her office but left the door open behind him. She looked at him with his black eye as he made his way into her office. That was another thing she wasn't expecting this morning when she woke up. "Dr. Morales just called, he requested dental records from the prison where Javier did his time, but they won't be at his office until Monday morning at best," Andy sighed as he knew that was not what Sharon wanted to hear.

"Well, then we will just have to assume for now that it is the body of Javier Garcia. Where are we on the financials?" Sharon asked him. "Amy was printing them out a couple of minutes ago," Andy said as he glanced over to see where Amy was. "We need to head over to his apartment, take a look around there and see if anything stands out," Sharon said as she stood up from her chair and walked around her desk. Andy noticed her wince as she walked. "Everything okay, Sharon?" he asked her. "Fine," she said giving him a smile and they walked out of her office.

"Nothing unusual with the financials, Commander," Amy said as she handed the papers to Sharon. Sharon looked through them and sighed. "Did he recently have any arrests?" she asked. "No," Julio stated as he sat at his desk. "Perhaps under an alias?" Sharon added. "Nope, his last arrest was back in 1996," Julio answered her as he paged down on his computer. "It looks like this Javier guy was trying to get his life back together after gangs, so did someone from the Locos off him?" Andy stated as he stood there with his arms crossed.

"Let's head over to his apartment and take a look around," she said. "I'll call the building manager and let them know so we can get in," Provenza stated and then grabbed his desk phone and dialed a number. "Also, we need to figure out where his vendor cart was stored at night when he wasn't selling food," Sharon stated to the team. "I may be able to answer that, Commander," Mike stated as he looked at his computer screen. Sharon walked over to his desk and saw what he was looking up. "Here is a website that lists all vendors in the area and where they have been and where they will be located for the month," Mike started to explain.

"Javier was at Bellevue Rec Center yesterday, then he went to Pershing Square, and his final stop was at MacArthur Park," Mike stated. Sharon read the schedule and looked at the Murder Board. "So how did he get halfway across LA to be at these spots?" she asked. "He had a truck, ma'am," Julio stated as he stood up and went over to the printer. Provenza held out his jar as he was still on the phone and Julio deposited a quarter into the jar and then placed the photo of the truck onto the Murder Board.

"Where's the truck located now?" Sharon asked them. Provenza hung up his phone and leaned back in his chair. "Probably still at the park," Andy answered as he leaned on the back of an empty chair. "How did we miss the truck there?" Sharon asked in an upset voice. "There was a lot going on Commander, it was easily overlooked," Provenza stated as Sharon looked at him. "Mike, you and Amy take a look at the truck while the rest of us head over to Javier's apartment," Sharon gave the orders and then walked back to her office.

Mike raised his eyebrows as Sharon left the room and he caught the eyes of Amy who slightly shook her head. "You need to go talk to her," Provenza told Andy. Andy turned to look at him. "She's fine," he stated giving a questionable look on his face. Mike and Amy then left the office and headed back over to Ladera Park.

Sharon met Andy at his desk and they headed out with Provenza, Julio, and Buzz to go to Javier's apartment. Andy held her door open and Sharon slid into the passenger seat. She gave a slight wince as she got in but quickly dismissed it. Andy started the car and followed Provenza, Julio, and Buzz who were in the car in front of them. He quickly glanced at Sharon who was looking out her side window. "You sure you're okay?" he asked as he didn't want to come off nagging. After all, he had just told her not to worry about him and here he was worrying about her.

"You just told me earlier that you don't want me to worry about you, but now you're worried about me?" Sharon asked him as she laughed and shook her head slightly. "Well, like you said, you'll always worry about me and I'll always worry about you, my dear," he stated as they turned off of Sunset Boulevard and on to Echo Park Avenue. "In all honesty, I think when you pulled me to the ground earlier this morning at the game, I might have pulled a muscle, but I'm fine, really," she said as they pulled up in front of a grey apartment building.

They got out of their vehicle and met in front of the entrance to the apartment building. "His apartment number is 419, ma'am," Julio stated and then they went inside to speak to the building manager. Provenza knocked on the building manager's door and it opened slightly. "Oh, hello sir, I am Lieutenant Provenza, LAPD. We spoke on the phone earlier," Provenza said to him and the man nodded. "Yes, of course, I have the main key here. I'll take you up to the floor," the man said and grabbed the keys off the table.

They all walked up the flight of stairs and headed down a main corridor. "I can't believe that happened to Javier," the man informed them as they stopped in front of the apartment door. "Did you know him?" Sharon asked the man. "A little bit, after his mother passed away he moved here, always nice and asked me if I needed help with anything," the man answered and then placed the key inside the lock and opened the door. "Thank you, you can wait out here if you'd like," Sharon told the man as he took a step back. She then nodded to Andy, who in turn drew his weapon and they entered the apartment.

They cleared the rooms to make sure no one else was in the apartment and once that was done, Buzz entered and started filming the search. Andy put on a pair of gloves before he started searching the kitchen. There was some mail laying on the kitchen counter and Andy briefly went through that. "He's got a lot of bills here, and one personal letter that's been opened," Andy said as he held up the envelope to show Sharon.

Sharon walked over to the kitchen, as she put on a pair of gloves, and reached for the envelope that Andy was holding. She took the letter out and started to read it. She then realized it was written in Spanish. "It's in Spanish," she looked up at Andy and then glanced around the area to see where Julio was. "Julio!" she called out.

Julio was back in the bedroom when he heard his name and he walked to the hallway. Provenza was standing there. "Sir?" he questioned. "The Commander is looking for you," Provenza said and Julio passed him in the hallway and made his way to the front of the apartment. Julio saw Sharon and Andy standing in the kitchen. "Yes ma'am?" he said as he approached them. "There's a letter here amongst Javier's mail, but it is written in Spanish," Sharon said as she handed the letter to Julio.

Julio started to read the letter. His face changed immediately. Both Andy and Sharon noticed that. "What does it say?" Andy asked him. Julio looked at both of them. "It's a warning, sir, ma'am," Julio stated. "A warning?" Andy gruffed. "A warning about what?" Sharon asked as she placed her hand on Andy's arm. "It says we know what you did and you betrayed us. You'll pay for your sin," Julio stated. "Betrayed?" Andy mumbled and gave a questionable look. "So who did he betray?" Sharon asked out loud as they stood there in Javier's apartment.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

 **A/N:** Thank you all for the reviews of this story so far. I really appreciate them!

Chapter 4

"Mike, I think this is the truck," Amy said as they pulled up in the parking lot of the park. It had taken them a while to drive there as traffic was horrible for a Saturday afternoon. Mike parked the car and they stepped out and headed towards the Ford truck that was parked. Amy looked across the parking lot and saw where the explosion had happen. "This was a long walk for Javier with his vendor cart," Amy said.

Mike looked over the area and agreed with Amy. "I don't think this is where he dropped the cart off," he stated and then started to walk towards the truck. "Why do you say that?" Amy asked him. "Because, there's no cart path from the parking lot to the other side of the field where he was positioned," Mike said as he pointed to the grass. "There has to be another place where he dropped off his vendor cart," he said as he looked around.

"There looks like another parking area across the way, but why would he move his truck back over here?" Amy stated as she stood there with her hands on her hips. "What if he didn't move it?" Mike suggested. "I'm not following," she said and gave him a quizzical look. "When Kendall was examining the body, he pulled out the damaged wallet and phone, but not a set of car keys," Mike said. "Which is why we didn't think to look for a truck when we were here earlier today," Amy stated and Mike nodded in agreement.

"So whoever moved the truck," Mike said. "Still has the set of keys," Amy said and then walked with Mike over to the truck. It was a Ford pickup truck, black in color, with a tow trailer hitch in the back. "Where's the trailer at, if he towed his vendor cart?" Amy asked Mike as they looked around the truck and made sure that there were no surprises on the outside of the vehicle. "I'm not sure," Mike said as he made his way to the driver's side door. "We're going to have to call for a tow truck to take this in to the print shed," he stated as he tried opening the door.

Mike then walked back to their car and pulled out a slim jim to see if he could unlock the truck's door. "Have you done this before?" Amy asked as Mike shimmied the slim jim into the door window panel and moved it slightly to the left. The door unlocked and Mike opened it as he smiled at Amy. "Never mind," she muttered as he pressed the button to unlock the rest of the doors on the truck. They both put on a pair of gloves and searched the truck looking for any kind of evidence they could use.

Amy was on the passenger side and opened the glove box and searched the contents inside. She looked through all sorts of papers regarding maintenance on the truck, the registration, and an insurance card. Mike opened the extended crew cab door on the driver's side and searched the backseat. "He has a set of tools here and other items for his vendor cart I'm assuming," Mike said as he pulled out some items from the back of the truck.

The sun was starting to set by the time the tow truck from the LAPD arrived at the park. The tow truck officers loaded the truck up onto the bed of the tow truck and secured it. "Okay Lieutenant, see you at the print shed," one of the officers said to Mike. Mike looked at his watch as Amy and him made their way back to their car. "I'll call Lieutenant Provenza and tell him our progress," she said as she pulled out her phone and got inside the passenger side of the car.

Meanwhile, back at Javier's apartment, Andy was looking through a box in the hallway closet when he held his breath. "Uh guys?" he said as he slowly stood up. Julio and Buzz quickly made their way to where Andy was standing. "What is it, Lieutenant?" Buzz asked him. "I think this Javier was doing something more than just being an owner of a vending cart," Andy said as he held some pictures in his hand and pointed to others in the box.

Andy handed one of the pictures to Julio. Julio looked at it and knelt down to look through the box. There were pictures and pictures of young children, boys and girls, some naked and some wearing clothing. Andy stepped into the kitchen where Sharon and Provenza were still standing. "You're gonna want to see this," Andy said to them. Sharon stepped over to where Andy was standing as he pointed to the box on the floor. "There's got to be hundreds of pictures here," Julio stated as he went through the box.

Sharon took a look at one picture and shook her head. "So, Javier Garcia isn't so innocent as we would like to believe," Provenza muttered as he looked at a picture as well. "How often was he at events that included children?" Sharon asked the group. Andy just shook his head. "I can find out his schedule for the past month, ma'am," Buzz stated to her. "Please do, Buzz," she said back to him as she walked away from the area. Andy watched her leave and decided to follow her towards the living room.

"Now listen Sharon, we don't know what this Javier exactly did," Andy started to tell her but she shook her head. "No, no, why else would he be at the baseball field?" Sharon asked him as she stood there with her hands on her hips and thought. "If he was a registered sex offender, it would have popped up in our database, Commander," Provenza interrupted them as he walked over to join them. Sharon glanced at her watch. It was now 7:15 in the evening.

"According to the online schedule, for the past month he has only brought his vendor cart to neighborhood parks on Saturdays and Sundays. During the week he was downtown on the street corner across from City Hall," Buzz stated as he read off the schedule from his phone. "How many kids are we talking about here? And, did he interact with any of them?" Sharon questioned out loud to her two Lieutenants. Andy shook his head and looked at the floor.

"Well, now we know what sin they were talking about in that letter," Andy said to Sharon. Sharon looked at him and then at Provenza. His phone rang and he answered it. "Sykes, what is going on with you and Mike?" he asked over the phone. Sykes informed him about the truck and that they were bringing it back to the print shed. "Fine, um, we just found something that, well, is a little disturbing to say the least, we'll fill you and Mike in when we get back to the office," Provenza said and then hung up his phone.

"They are bringing Javier's truck to the print shed and they'll meet us back at the office," Provenza said to Sharon and she nodded. "Box all the pictures up along with everything else we found here, we should head back to the office as well," Sharon told him and then she stepped outside into the hallway. Andy watched her leave. This case went from bad to worse in a matter of seconds.

"Sir?" Julio stated to Andy. He then turned around and walked over to the hallway. "I think you better take a look at this picture," Julio said to him and handed a picture of a young boy who was probably seven years old at the time the picture was taken. Andy stared at the picture of the child. "What the hell," he muttered to himself as he recognized the boy.

Andy walked over to where Sharon was standing outside the apartment. She was on her phone talking to who Andy presumed was Assistant Chief Mason. He waited patiently until she was finished before handing her the photo. "Mason is going to have cyber-crimes look at the pictures after we log them as evidence to see who these children are," she told him as she looked at his face. He swallowed hard. "Sharon," he whispered to her and shook his head. "What?" she wondered and then glanced at the photo he was holding.

"Oh my god," she whispered as she looked at the picture and saw Matthew. The picture showed a younger Matthew, fully clothed but playing outside at some sort of playground. "Julio showed this to me just about a minute ago," Andy said with a hint of anger and concern in his voice. "When was this taken?" she asked as she looked into Andy's eyes. "Hard to say," he said as he shrugged his shoulders. She shook her head as she stood there, rooted in the spot.

"We can ask him when we get home tonight?" he said to her as he lightly touched her arm with his hand. "No, no, I will not have our son become a victim. We don't even know where Javier got this picture or the other pictures for that matter," she stated with anger in her voice now. Andy just stood there, lost for words to say. "We'll get to the bottom of this," he finally said as he touched her shoulder. Sharon held on to the picture and Andy retreated back into the apartment.

They boxed up all of the evidence they collected in his apartment and headed back to the office. Andy glanced over at Sharon a couple of times as he drove them back. She was awfully quiet on the ride back. "What was his motive for being at that game? Did he recognize Matthew?" she said finally as they pulled into the PAB parking garage. Andy didn't have an answer for her. She got out of their car after Andy had turned the vehicle off. He met her at the back of their car. She handed him the photo.

"I want those pictures dusted for fingerprints, I want to know who handled them, I also want to know if there was anything in his background that would suggest he committed crimes against children," she started saying to him as they walked over to the elevators. They met Provenza, Julio, and Buzz there. Buzz had gone up to get a cart before they arrived and he was now pushing the cart with the evidence boxes on it into the elevator when it came.

They all rode the elevator up and entered the Murder Room where they began sorting through everything. Sharon walked into her office and closed the door behind her. "We're going to need a big table to spread out all of the pictures, sir," Julio stated to Provenza as Andy was pre-occupied with watching Sharon in her office. "Flynn!" Provenza said to him and Andy turned around. "Either we dust these ourselves or we call SID and have them do it," he said to him. "Waiting for SID is going to take too long," Andy said to him as he folded his arms across his chest.

"What is it?" Provenza asked Andy as he walked over to him. "One of the pictures in that box of his is of Matthew when he was maybe seven years old, it's hard to tell," Andy explained to him and handed the picture to show him. Provenza looked at him with concern and then at the picture. "Son of a bitch!" he said. "And here I felt sorry that he got blown up," he added. "Yeah, well," Andy said and shook his head. He glanced back over at Sharon who was still in her office.

Sharon stood in her office and watched her team lay out all of the pictures they had discovered. This case was not making any sense to her. One minute they were dealing with a bombing or explosion and then the next minute, it turns into something else. Her phone beeped, breaking her out of concentration. She pulled it out of her pocket and saw that it was a text message from Rusty. It was now closer to nine o'clock at night and Rusty's message just asked a simple 'when are you and Andy coming home, Matthew wants to know'. She decided to call his phone instead of texting him back.

"Hey," she said as soon as Rusty answered. "Mom, everything okay?" Rusty asked and Sharon sighed. "This case just keeps getting worse and worse," she said over the phone as she saw Mike and Amy join the rest of the team. "Tell Matthew we will be home soon," she said as she watched Andy tell Mike something and then Mike pulled out his fingerprinting kit from his bag. "Have him put his pajamas on, you guys can watch a movie or something," she said, in a shaky voice, as she saw Andy wave her over to them. "Listen I got to go, I love you and Matthew, thank you for taking care of him today," she said and then hung up her phone.

"What do we have?" Sharon asked as she walked out of her office to join them in front of Mike's computer. "I was able to pull a print from one of the pictures. Let's see if we can find a match," Mike said as he ran the fingerprint match program on his computer. It took less than a minute to come back with a positive match in their database. "We have a match, Commander, and it's Javier's fingerprints," Mike said as Javier's picture popped up on his computer screen.

"Alright, we need to figure out who sent this letter to Javier. Someone knew about this, and we need to find that person or persons," Sharon said as she pointed to the pictures laying on the table. "We could see if there are fingerprints on the letter," Julio suggested and Mike held out his hand. Julio handed the letter to him and he began to dust the letter for any type of fingerprint at all. "Javier's prints are all over this," Mike said as he compared the prints he lifted off the pictures to the letter. "Anybody else?" Andy asked.

"There is a partial here," Mike said as he lifted that print and placed it on a card. He then placed the card on his scanner and scanned the partial print into the system to run it. "This might take a while," Mike said as he pressed the button to run the search. "Meanwhile, what did you and Sykes find in the truck?" Provenza asked him.

"Ah, glad you asked. There was something off at the park where the truck was located. The truck appeared to have been moved from when Javier took off his food vendor cart to where it was currently parked when we got there," Mike stated to the team. "The truck was locked when we got there and Kendall never handed us keys from the body earlier today," Amy stated. "So who moved the truck?" Provenza asked. "Well, that's a good question," Mike said as he glanced at his computer. It was still running the partial print.

Sharon was standing next to Andy as the team kept talking. Andy leaned over to her. "We're not getting anywhere tonight, let's call it a night, go home, and come back tomorrow," Andy said to her and she sighed. "Look, we didn't get any hits on any other street food vendors, all their stuff is accounted for and safe, so," he continued but Sharon cut him off. "That's not the point, Andy. Not only do we need to figure out who murdered this guy, but we also need to find out if he had any victims, and why Matthew's photo was in that box" she told him. This case was frustrating the both of them now.

"I got a partial match!" Mike called out as he turned to his computer to see what came back. "What is it Mike?" Sharon asked as she made her way to his desk. Andy followed her. "A partial print that belongs to Hector Dominguez," Mike said. "I'm looking him up, ma'am," Julio said as he typed the name into his computer. "Hector is the leader of the Echo Park Locos, and his last known residence was in Angelino Heights as well," Julio read from his computer.

"How do you want to do this, Commander?" Provenza asked Sharon as she stood there, hands on her hips. She glanced at the clock. Trying to get the leader of a gang was not going to be easy. It wasn't like they could just knock on a door and ask the person politely to come down for some questions. This was going to take some manpower. "Let's find him tomorrow, it's late and I want everyone to get some rest," she said and Provenza nodded in agreement. Andy was surprised by what she had said. "Thank you everyone," Sharon added and then walked back into her office.

Andy looked at everyone and shrugged his shoulders. Sharon came out and whispered to Andy. "I'm going to use the ladies room, I'll be right back and then we can go home," she had told him and he watched her walk away down the hall. The team then started to leave one by one and Andy sat down at his desk. He stared at the picture of Matthew. He was younger in the picture, that was for certain so it must have been taken before his birth mother was killed.

Andy looked up to see Sharon walking back into the office. "Let me just grab my things and we can leave," she told him as she walked into her office. Sharon went over to her desk drawer and pulled out a file from there. She took a deep breath as she looked at the name on the file, Rebecca Norris, Matthew's birth mother. Sharon thought that if she was part of the Echo Park Locos when she was murdered, then there might be some sort of clue in her file that would lead them as to why Matthew's picture was at Javier's apartment.

She placed the file folder inside her bag and closed her office door behind her. "Ready?" she said to Andy as he was still sitting at his desk. He turned to her and stood up. They walked towards the elevators in silence. It had been a long day for everyone. "I think we need to ask Matthew when this picture of him was taken, if he can remember that," Andy said as they rode down in the elevator. Sharon shook her head at him. "I told you I don't want him involved in this investigation," she stated to him as they stepped off the elevator into the parking garage.

"He's already involved in it the moment we found his picture!" Andy said as they walked to their car. "Who are you yelling at?" Sharon asked him as she stopped in the middle of the parking garage. Andy bowed his head. "I'm not yelling, I'm just," he said but then closed his mouth before he regretted whatever else came out of his mouth. He looked back at Sharon and walked over to her. "I'm sorry," he muttered to her. "Let's go home, we can figure this out there," he said to her as he offered his hand and she took a hold of it. They continued to walk to their car and he drove them home.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 5

Andy pulled into the garage and turned the car off. He glanced over at Sharon. During the ride home, they had a discussion about whether or not to ask Matthew about the photo they had found. It wasn't a heated discussion, but in the end, Sharon was still a little apprehensive about agreeing to ask Matthew when that picture of him was taken. Andy got out of the car and walked around to the other side and opened Sharon's door for her. She stepped out and took Andy's hand that he offered. They walked to the back of the house. Andy opened the back door for Sharon and she stepped inside. They were greeted by Moxie who was by the door, wagging his tail. "I'll take him out," Andy said and then grabbed the leash and took Moxie outside.

Sharon walked to the kitchen and placed her bag on the kitchen table. "Hello?" she called out to Matthew or Rusty. A few seconds later she heard the patter of feet heading towards the kitchen. Matthew came around the corner. "Mom!" he shouted and then ran into Sharon's arms. She huffed out in pain as Matthew wrapped his arms around her left side. "You okay?" he said as he thought he heard her say something. "I'm fine sweetie," she told him and he let go of her.

"Where's Rusty?" she asked him. "We are watching a movie in the family room," Matthew told her and then Andy walked back into the house with Moxie. "Dad!" Matthew called out to him. "Hey kiddo," Andy said as Matthew gave him a hug. Andy glanced at Sharon who shook her head slightly at him. "Did you solve the case yet?" Matthew said as he grabbed Andy's hand and led him back to the kitchen table where Sharon was standing. "No, we are still working on it," Andy said to him.

"Why don't you go back to your movie and we will be there shortly, okay?" Sharon said to Matthew and he nodded and ran off back to the family room. Sharon took a deep breath and sighed as she watched Matthew leave. "I thought we agreed to ask him?" Andy whispered to her. She turned around to look at Andy. "We did, just can it wait till tomorrow morning? There's a lot we have to plan out first with this case," she said as she walked away and headed over to the den with her bag.

Andy watched her leave and then lowered his head. He sighed and then followed after her to the den. She was sitting at their desk sorting through some papers that she brought home. "What are you looking at?" he asked her as he stepped into the room. "I brought Rebecca Norris's file home, just to see if there was anything in here related to our case with Javier," she said not looking at him. Andy nodded and sat down across from her.

"We need to figure out how we are going to get Hector to come in for a talk," Andy said to her as he watched her read through the paperwork. "It's not like we can't just knock on his door and say please, right?" he said thinking that she wasn't listening to him. "Maybe that's exactly what we'll do," she said as she continued to read through the paperwork on Matthew's birth mother. "You can't be serious? We're going to knock on a gang leader's door, and say what?" Andy stated and Sharon looked up at him.

"And how do you plan on doing that?" he asked her and she thought about it for a brief second. "Just our team going there, that way it doesn't look like we are showing force," she said simply and then continued to read the report. Andy couldn't believe what she had said. First, he was joking about knocking on the door of a gang leader, but, Sharon was actually going to do just that. Andy stood up and started to walk out but Sharon grabbed his hand and he turned around.

"I promise tomorrow morning we'll ask him," she whispered to him and he nodded and then walked towards the family room. "So what movie are you guys watching in here?" Andy asked as he saw Jack Nicholson on the screen. "Batman with Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson," Rusty answered as they watched the movie. "Ah, I don't think your mom wants you watching this movie, Matthew," Andy said as he stepped in front of the TV and stopped the movie with the remote.

"Hey!" Matthew and Rusty said at the same time and then looked at Andy. "You're too young to watch this movie, and you should know better than that," he said first to Matthew and then to Rusty as he pointed at each of them. "I'm going to ask her!" Matthew said as he got up from the couch and ran over to the den. "Mom!" he said on his way over there.

"Sorry Andy, I just thought he would enjoy that movie since he loves Batman, and it's better than the more recent movies, not as dark as them," Rusty said as he stood up and brought the bowl of popcorn to the kitchen. Andy followed Matthew to where Sharon was. He pinched the bridge of his nose and thought that it would sure be nice to redo this whole entire day. "I'm heading up," Rusty called out to them. Andy waved at Rusty and then walked up to Matthew as he stood next to Sharon.

"Why can't I watch it?" he heard Matthew ask. "Because that movie is too violent, the cartoon versions are better," Sharon said. "What are you looking at?" Matthew asked her as he peeked at some of the papers. "Why are you looking at my birth mom?" Matthew asked her. She looked at Andy. "Well, Matthew, we found something today in our investigation that, well, we think you could help," she started to explain.

Matthew stood there not knowing what they were talking about. "Remember how we asked you to help us when we first found you, last year?" Andy asked him as he knelt down by Matthew. "Yes," Matthew nodded. "Well, we need you to look at a picture and tell us when it was taken of you," Andy said and then showed him the picture they had found.

Matthew looked at it. "That was at the park my birth mom took me to. We would always go there when we lived in our old house," he said to them and then he had a sad look on his face. "Sweetie, what's wrong?" she asked him. "I haven't thought about her in a while," he said quietly. Andy rubbed his back reassuringly. "That's okay, you know," he said to Matthew and then looked at Sharon.

"Do you know how old you were when this was taken?" Sharon asked him. "Seven I think," he shrugged his shoulders. "Good, Matthew, you're doing good," Sharon said as she rubbed her hand on his arm. "We need to show you another picture," Andy said as he reached over and pulled out the picture of Javier from his DMV photo. "Have you ever seen this man before?" he asked him.

Matthew stared at the picture. "He looks familiar, when my birth mom used to hang out with the bad people, I saw him with them," Matthew said in a quiet voice. "Do you know his name?" Sharon asked him but Matthew shook his head no. Sharon glanced at Andy and she knew the next question had to be asked. "Matthew, did this guy hurt you in any way back then, when you were with your birth mother?" Andy asked him. "No," Matthew said. "Why? What did he do?" Matthew added.

"We don't know what he did, but he was at the park today," Sharon said. "Was he the one that got blown up this morning?" Matthew asked innocently enough. "Yeah, he was," Andy said as he glanced back at Sharon. "Alright, why don't you go upstairs, as it is late and way past bed time," Sharon said to Matthew and then Andy stood up. "Come on kiddo," Andy said as he guided Matthew out of the den. "I'll be up in a minute to tuck you in," Sharon said to him and then watched Andy and Matthew go up the stairs.

Sharon looked at the paperwork again scattered on the desk. She heard Moxie walking down the hallway and then saw the dog head upstairs as well. She needed to get herself upstairs too as she didn't want Matthew to be waiting too long. She stood up from the desk and turned the light off. She then made her way towards the kitchen and made sure the doors were locked before heading upstairs.

As she made her way up to Matthew's room she saw Andy sitting at the edge of Matthew's bed. She heard Matthew talking to Andy and she stopped just short of entering his room. "Sometimes, when people die, we might not think about them for a while but that doesn't mean that they are not in our hearts, Matthew," Andy said. "Is it bad of me to do that?" Matthew asked. "No Matthew, and I'm sure your birth mother is looking down at you and is very happy with how you are doing," he told him and Matthew settled into his bed.

It broke her heart listening to Matthew. They had told him in the beginning before they officially adopted him that he would always have his birth mother in his heart and that they were just there to take over and guide him through his life now. They were not replacing anyone and he understood that.

She could tell that Matthew was being truthful when they had asked him questions about Javier. Those were tough questions for a tough kid. "Could you read me a story?" Matthew asked Andy. "Okay, how about a short one though," he said and started to tell him a short story he had remembered he told his grandkids once.

He had just finished telling the story to Matthew when he heard Sharon in the hallway. "Ah, mom's here now, time to go to sleep," Andy said as he stood up from the bed and Sharon made her way towards them. "Good night sweetie," she said to Matthew as she leaned down and kissed his forehead. "Good night," Matthew said as he yawned and pulled his stuffed animal Goofy close to him.

Andy ran his hand up and down Sharon's back as they exited Matthew's room and then walked across the hallway to their bedroom. As Andy closed their door behind him, Sharon walked into the bathroom and began to start to get ready for bed. Andy followed her in there and as Sharon removed her t-shirt, he saw a nasty looking bruise on her left side. "Shit," he whispered as he got closer to her. "Sharon, you're injured," he said to her as he reached to touch the bruise.

Sharon looked at herself in the mirror and saw the bruise Andy was referring to. "Oh wow!" she said as she maneuvered herself to see. "You said you were okay, this is not okay," he mumbled to her as he lightly touched the bruise. "Thinking back maybe when we hit the ground, I might of hit the edge of the bleacher," she said to him as she moved his fingers from her bruise. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked. She laughed at that question.

"The same reason you didn't tell me you had gotten punched in the face last night, or injured during the job, or whatever else you try to hide from me regarding your health," she said to him as she cupped his face in her hands. "I thought we promised each other that we would try better with that," he said to her. She smiled at him. "Do you want some ice for it, it doesn't look swollen or anything like that," Andy asked her. "I'm fine, really," she said.

Sharon then got herself dressed for bed and Andy looked at himself in the mirror. His black eye was now a purplish and yellow blob underneath his eye. Sharon walked up behind him and placed her arms around his mid-section. He turned around in her arms and leaned down for a kiss. "You sure I can't get you anything?" he asked her in a husky voice. "I am," she smiled and took a hold of his hand and led him to bed.

Andy turned the light off in the bathroom as they made their way over to their bed. Sharon climbed in and laid down first. Andy followed her and laid down on his back. Sharon scooted over to his side. There was a lot going through her mind at this hour. How the explosion could have been far worse than it was. They still needed to figure out who was behind it all. They would start narrowing down their suspects tomorrow by speaking with Hector. Hector, the head of the Echo Park Locos, the gang that Javier belonged to. The same gang that Matthew's birth mother dealt cocaine for, which got her killed.

Sharon took a deep breath and tried settling in for the night. Andy had closed his eyes already and held her close to him. Then as they are searching Javier's apartment, they get thrown for another loop when they discovered photographs of children. And on top of all that, one of the photos is of Matthew. "I can hear you thinking," Andy mumbled into her ear as he turned his face towards her head. "Sorry, I just can't seem to relax," Sharon whispered. "I can help you with that," he said as he smiled into her neck and started to kiss her there.

Sharon sighed as Andy tried to distract her and relax her at the same time. He felt her move her hands over his muscles in his arms. He pulled back to look at her. "This isn't helping you at all, is it?" he whispered to her and reluctantly she shook her head no. He dropped his head and sighed as well. "You want to talk about it?" he asked her as he propped himself up on his elbow and arm. "Just this case, went from bad to worse, and we're not anywhere close to solving this," she said as he ran a finger down her arm.

"Well, let's go over what we have so far in this case," he whispered as he gently caressed her arm. "We have an explosion happening at a park during a little league baseball game, seems like it was only targeted on one specific person. We also have that person being a former gang member who did some shady things," he continued to go over their case as Sharon shifted and got more comfortable. She looked him in his eyes and saw the love he had for her.

"Now my boss wants to go talk to the leader of the Echo Park Locos because his fingerprints were found all over a letter in Javier's apartment. She's pretty bold that way and straight to the point too," he said and she smiled at him. "I would follow her to the gates of hell and back if I had to," he added as he leaned down and kissed her on her lips. "Would this case not bother you if we hadn't have found those pictures in his apartment?" he asked her after a silent pause.

She looked at him and thought about it. Did finding those pictures in his apartment make this case worse, or give motive for someone to take care of Javier? "I don't think it would have bothered me this much, but since we did, and we also found Matthew's picture there, somehow, it makes it more personal now," Sharon said to him and he nodded in agreement. Andy glanced at the clock. It was after midnight and they needed their rest as tomorrow had the potential to be a very busy and trying day.

"What else is bothering you, sweetheart?" he whispered as he moved a piece of hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. "This whole bombing, it just seems excessive," she said as she shook her head slightly while laying down beside Andy. "It's almost too much," she added as she thought about it more. "Perhaps the person behind it is sending a message," Andy said. "But who else knows about it? Or about what Javier was involved in?" Sharon asked as she shifted onto her side. "I don't know," he whispered to her. "I do know that we both need to get some sleep," he added as he moved closer to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She laid her head against his chest as he held her close to him.

Sunday morning was fast approaching and Sharon knew that she needed to get some rest; otherwise she would be no good to the team the next day. She could tell that Andy was already asleep by his breathing pattern. She listened to his heart beating beneath her ear as she laid there. Listening to his heart beating, knowing that he was still with her, gave her a sense of calm. She eventually closed her eyes and fell asleep as Andy held her through the night.

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 6

There was some sort of knocking Sharon heard as she slept. She didn't know where it was coming from. She gradually opened her eyes and heard the knocking again. This time she knew exactly where it was coming from. She turned away from Andy, still in his arms, and slowly got up from their bed. She walked over to the door and opened it to see Matthew standing in the hallway.

"What's the matter?" she whispered to him as he walked inside their room and Moxie followed him. "I had a bad dream again," he mumbled to her as he waited for Sharon to close the door. Sharon knelt down and faced Matthew. She wiped a tear away from his face. "What happened?" she asked him soothingly. "There was another explosion and I didn't see you or dad," he said as he sniffled. "Oh sweetie, it's okay," Sharon said and pulled Matthew into a hug.

Sharon then stood up and guided Matthew to their bed. She climbed back in and Matthew cuddled close to her. Andy stirred in his sleep and slowly opened his eyes. "What's the matter?" he mumbled to her. "Matthew had a bad dream," she whispered to him. Andy woke up and shifted over on the bed to make room. He glanced at the alarm clock on his night stand. It was 4:30 in the morning. Once they were all settled back in bed, Moxie jumped on the bed and laid down by Andy's feet.

"I think we need a bigger bed," Andy whispered to Sharon as he closed his eyes again. Sharon smiled. She glanced down and saw Matthew was already asleep again. Andy settled on his side and faced Sharon. "You're beautiful, you know that?" he whispered to her. She turned her head to look at him. His brown eyes looking back at her. She leaned over and kissed him on his forehead. "Go back to sleep," she whispered and Andy hummed. She then glanced back at Matthew and felt herself drifting back to sleep.

A couple of hours later, Sharon heard another annoying sound coming from her night stand. It wasn't her alarm clock but her phone, alerting her to a text message. She groaned as she maneuvered herself to pick up the phone. She then reached for her glasses so she could see. The text message was from Mike. 'At print shed, no other prints in the system besides Javier's,' the message said. She looked at the time on her phone. It was now 7 o'clock in the morning. She responded to Mike's message and then placed her phone back on her night stand.

Matthew had somehow worked his way in between Sharon and Andy and was now sleeping curled up into Andy's side. Moxie was still asleep at the foot of the bed. Sharon slowly moved off the bed and put her robe on. She then tiptoed towards the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

By the time she was finished in the bathroom; Andy was up to take Moxie outside. "Hey," she said to him. He gave her his tired smile. "Mike texted me, he's at the print shed now," she whispered and he nodded. He then ran his hand through his hair and Moxie shook his body and stretched. "He's still sleeping," he whispered to her as he left their room.

Sharon nodded and her eyes fell on Matthew. She decided that she was going to wake him as they needed to get themselves ready to head back into work. She walked over to the bed and gently rubbed his shoulder. "Matthew, sweetie, time to get up," she said to him. Matthew stirred and turned over on his back. His eyes were slightly opened.

"Do you and Daddy need to go back to work today?" he asked her as he yawned and stretched his arms above his head. "Yes," she said as she watched him. "Hmm, who's going to watch me?" he asked as he slowly sat up. "Well, I could call up Nicole and see if you could hang out with them today, or maybe you could hang with Rusty?" she said. "Rusty told me yesterday that he has something he needs to work on all day today," Matthew said. "Well, then let me call Nicole and see what their plans are," she said to him as she ran her hand through his hair. "If they're busy, could I go to work with you and Dad? I'll be good, you won't even know I'm there, I promise!" he said, whining.

Sharon smiled and shook her head. "As much as I would like to say yes to that, unfortunately you can't come in with us, sweetie," Sharon told him and he huffed. "Come on, all is not lost. Why don't you get yourself dressed while I call Nicole, okay?" she said and then Matthew stood up and walked out of their room.

Sharon grabbed her phone, hoping that it wasn't too early to be calling Nicole on a Sunday morning. She pressed Nicole's name on her phone and it began to dial the number. The phone rang three times before Nicole answered it. "Sharon, is everything okay?" Nicole said as she answered it. "Yes, but unfortunately your father and I have to go into work today as we caught a case yesterday morning," Sharon informed her. "Oh, if you want Matthew can come over here. We were going to take the boys down to the beach today, he's welcome to join us," Nicole informed her.

Sharon walked into the hallway as she spoke to Nicole. "Oh, I'm sure he'd be happy about that, let me ask him," she said as she walked into Matthew's room. "Matthew, Nicole said you are welcome to hang out with them today, they are heading to the beach later on," Sharon told Matthew. "Can I go with them?" Matthew asked, excitedly. Sharon nodded and smiled at him. "Yeah!" Matthew said as he ran into his closet and got his swim towel and goggles. He then went into one of his drawers and pulled out his swim trunks and started to place everything in a small bag.

Sharon turned around and headed back into their bedroom. "He's very excited, thank you so much, Nicole for doing this, we really appreciate it," Sharon said to her. "Oh, Sharon, it's no problem, really," Nicole said to her. "Okay, we will drop him off say in about an hour?" Sharon said and Nicole agreed. Sharon then hung up her phone. Andy came walking back inside their room. "Who were you talking to?" he asked her as he went into their closet and pulled out a pair of nice jeans and a polo shirt.

"Your daughter, I called her to see if Matthew could hang out with them today while we were at work and she said yes. They are going to the beach later on and Matthew's going with them," Sharon said as she slipped behind him in their closet to pick out clothes for herself. Andy turned around and grabbed her in her arms. "Too bad we can't go. I'd love to see you in your swimsuit again before summer ends," he whispered into her ear as he held her. A shiver ran down Sharon's spine and gave her goosebumps.

"Hmm, I promise that when we get a chance, I'll take you to the beach," she said in a sultry voice. "Hmm, or how about the pool in the yard?" he asked her as she turned around in his arms. "Only if you behave yourself," she said and smiled at him. "I'll behave," he promised and then leaned in and kissed her.

"Your eye is looking better this morning," she said to him as she turned around and slipped out of his arms to finish getting dressed. Andy groaned as he watched her walk away and head into the bathroom. She certainly knew how to tease him and get him going. Andy took a deep breath and pulled on his earlobe. He counted to ten and then got himself ready for work.

Sharon was downstairs by the time Andy was ready. She had fixed them a small breakfast to eat and Matthew was sitting at the kitchen table. Sharon had texted Rusty letting him know that Matthew was going over to Nicole's house for the day and asked him if he could stop by to let Moxie out during the day. He texted her back and said 'yes'. Andy joined them at the table after grabbing a cup of coffee and they ate breakfast together.

An hour later, they were on their way to drop off Matthew at Nicole and Dean's house. Andy pulled into their driveway and parked the car. Sharon got out and Matthew followed. They both stood by the car while Sharon talked to Matthew. "I want you to have a wonderful time with them, okay?" she said and Matthew nodded. Andy got out of the car and started to walk towards the front door of the house. He stopped just short of the steps and waited for Matthew and Sharon.

"Morning Dad," Nicole said as she opened the door and saw her father standing there waiting for Sharon and Matthew to join him. Andy turned around and greeted Nicole. She saw his black eye and wondered what happened. "Dad, what happened to your eye?" she asked him. "Oh, well I went out with Provenza the other night and tried breaking up a fight, but I got hit in the eye, I'm fine though," Andy explained to her. Nicole just shook her head. Sharon and Matthew joined him and Matthew walked inside the house. "Bye Matthew!" Sharon said as he turned around briefly and then went off in search of Avery and Colin.

"Thanks again for doing this, Nicole," Andy said as he gave her a kiss on her cheek. "Dad, I told you anytime you need us to watch Matthew, we are happy to do it. Sharon, really," Nicole said to the two of them. "Is your case about the explosion at that park yesterday?" Nicole asked them. "Yes, well, we were there for Matthew's game when that happened," Sharon said. "Oh my god! Are you okay?" Nicole said in an almost panic voice.

"We're fine, honestly," Sharon told her. "Dad, with your black eye and the explosion at the park where you guys were at, it's just a lot," Nicole stated but Sharon reassured her. "We have to go, everyone's waiting for us at the office," Andy said. Nicole cleared her throat and kissed her father on his cheek. "Bye Dad, please be careful," she said to him. "I'm always careful," he smiled at her. She then gave a skeptical look to Sharon who laughed. "Bye Nicole," she said and gave her a kiss on her cheek.

Nicole waved to them as they got in their car and drove off. "So what did you tell Matthew when the two of you got out of the car?" Andy asked as he held Sharon's hand as he drove them. "I just wanted him to know that it was okay to enjoy the day today," she told him as she looked out the window. "I overheard the conversation you had with him last night about him forgetting about his birth mother and I just wanted to reassure him that everything was okay," she added and then glanced at him.

Andy nodded. "Okay," he said as he continued to drive them. They were on the 101 heading towards the city and as they were driving, they saw several fire trucks heading in the opposite direction towards the forests. Sharon glanced at Andy and knew those trucks were heading towards the forest fires that recently started. The area fire departments were working tirelessly to get those fires under some sort of control.

Andy thought about the last time they had a forest fire like that, it was when Brenda was still the Chief in charge of them and Croelick showed up where they were staging the investigation. He shook his head. Why did Croelick pop up in his mind, he thought as he pulled off the 101 and headed onto Spring Street.

A few minutes later, they pulled into the parking garage at the PAB and Andy parked their car. As they walked to the elevators, Andy grabbed Sharon's hand and stopped her before she pressed the button to call the elevator. She looked at him and wondered why he stopped her. "You sure you want to talk to this Hector guy, with no other back up from SOB?" he asked her. "Yes, I don't want him to think we are there for a confrontation. We will try it this way first, and if it doesn't work, then we'll go to plan B," she told him.

"What's plan B?" he asked her as he pushed the button for the elevator. "I haven't thought that far yet," she said to him as the doors opened and they both stepped inside. The doors opened on the ninth floor and Andy followed Sharon to the Murder Room. Everyone was there by now and Sharon walked over to the Murder Board while Andy stood next to Provenza.

"Okay, team, we need to talk to Hector today," Sharon started saying as Julio shuffled some paper on his desk. "Detective Sanchez, did you find out anything else on Hector?" Sharon asked Julio. "Yes ma'am," Julio said and then stood up and walked over to the Murder Board. "Hector resides here, at this address, this is a picture of his house, if we go early, he should be home," Julio said as he placed pictures up on the board for everyone to see.

"We are going to knock on his door and see if he wants to cooperate and answer some questions we have," Sharon stated. "And what if he doesn't, Commander?" Provenza asked her. "We have probable cause to arrest him since we found that letter with his fingerprints on it inside Javier's apartment" she said and Provenza leaned back in his chair. "So, we're just going to walk right up to his house and ask him nicely if he'll answer some questions we have?" Provenza said.

"You got a better idea, now's the time to tell me," Sharon told him and folded her arms across her chest. Andy slightly shook his head at his partner. "If you want to do this Commander, then I think you should stay back here and let myself, Flynn, and Sanchez handle him," Provenza said to her. "I appreciate your concern for my safety, Lieutenant but I'm going with," Sharon said. Andy glanced at Sharon. Once she made up her mind on doing something, it was very hard to dissuade her.

"Fine, I didn't want to pull this card but you're too closely involved in this investigation," Provenza stated to her as the rest of the team watched their interaction in the Murder Room. "How am I too close, Lieutenant?" Sharon asked him as she shifted her stance. "We found Matthew's picture in the victim's apartment," Provenza stated and the exchanges between the two of them continued. "If that's the case then Andy is too close as well," Sharon stated and pointed at Andy with her hand. Andy sighed and crossed his arms on his chest.

Provenza was trying to think of something else to say. "Besides, finding his picture there isn't relevant to the case at hand," Sharon argued and technically she was correct. She glanced at Andy who was looking at the floor and the rest of the team was doing the same as well. "I'm going with," Sharon stated and started to walk to her office.

"Mike, is there anything else we haven't covered regarding Javier?" Sharon asked him as she stopped walking. "Yes, while I was at the print shed this morning, I noticed there was some unknown white powder/clay traces in the front cab of his truck. I had sent them to the lab, but I'm waiting on the results still," Mike said. "Good, you and Amy head down to the lab see if you can't expedite the results of that test," Sharon said and then entered her office.

Andy walked over to his desk and pulled out his bullet-proof vest and started to put it on over his polo shirt. Sharon came out of her office wearing her vest and after Provenza, Julio, and Buzz were ready, they headed downstairs to the vehicles.

"I want answers regarding that letter and Javier, and I think Hector will be willing to provide us with them, if not there than definitely back here," Sharon explained to Provenza who had a worried look on his face as they walked to their vehicles. Provenza nodded. "Fine Commander, but just so you know I am protesting this decision you are making," he said to her as he and Julio got inside their vehicle. "Duly noted," Sharon nodded and glanced at Andy who opened her door and waited for her to get inside before closing the door and heading around to the driver's side.

They took two vehicles and drove to Hector's house of residence. As they approached the house, they pulled up a couple of houses down and parked on the street. As Andy stepped out of the vehicle, he put his sunglasses on and walked around to where Sharon was. He closed her door and looked around the neighborhood. There were people watching them closely as they walked to join Provenza, Julio, and Buzz. "Buzz, I'd like for you to wait here while we go up there," Sharon said and Buzz nodded.

The four of them approached the house and Julio knocked on the front door. A minute later, a woman answered the door. "Yes?" she said as she opened the door slightly. "Ms. I'm Lieutenant Provenza, this is Lieutenant Flynn, Commander Flynn, and Detective Sanchez, LAPD. Is Hector home?" Provenza asked the woman. "Yes, I'll go get him," she said and then turned around and disappeared into the house. Andy looked at Sharon as she stood there. Julio looked around the corner of the porch to make sure no activity was going on towards the back of the house.

Just then, a man approached the front door. "So what can I do for the LAPD?" he said. "Hector, we were wondering if you could answer some questions about one of our cases," Provenza stated to him. Hector looked at everyone. "You know, you guys showing up here on my door step doesn't look good," Hector said as he leaned up against the door frame. "Well, you can either answer questions here or downtown at our office," Sharon stated to him. Hector smiled at Sharon. "Oh, mamacita, wherever you would like!" Hector said and Andy stepped in front of Sharon.

"Watch it, pal!" Andy said to Hector. Hector laughed. "We can sit out here and talk if you want," he said as he pointed to the chairs. "I thought you didn't like us out here where everyone can see?" Julio stated. "I don't but I need some fresh air," Hector stated. Andy kept staring at Hector as he eyed Sharon. Julio watched people walking down the street. The people stopped in front of Hector's house. "You okay Hector?" one of them called out. "Fine, don't worry," Hector called back and then turned his attention back to Sharon.

"Everyone knows me in this neighborhood," Hector said. "Well, you are the leader of the Echo's right?" Andy stated and Hector looked up at him. "Hmm, that's what they say. Now, what are the answers you are looking for, Commander?" Hector stated to Sharon. Andy wondered how he knew Sharon was a Commander, unless his woman told him but they never gave him their names directly.

"I'd like to discuss Javier Garcia with you," Sharon said to him and Hector sat back in his chair. "Huh, maybe I should go downtown to your office then, I suddenly fear for the safety of you and your men, Commander," Hector stated. "What is that supposed to mean?" Andy huffed. "It means, Lieutenant, that it would be better for both of us to be somewhere else but here, discussing things of that nature," Hector informed Andy. Andy glanced at Sharon who stood up from her chair. "Plus, I would like my lawyer present," Hector added and then walked over to the front door.

Hector stepped inside the house and turned around to face them again. "I'll be there in about an hour, Commander," he said to Sharon. "Fine," Sharon nodded and then looked at Provenza and Andy. Julio was already down the stairs and stood in front of the house. "Be careful leaving here," Hector said and then closed the door behind him. Sharon turned around and walked back to where Buzz was at the vehicles.

"Did you record anything?" Sharon asked Buzz as Andy and Provenza walked up behind her. "Yes I did," Buzz informed her. "Good, let's head back then," she said and then walked with Andy to their vehicle. "Something's not right with that guy," Andy said to Sharon as he held the door open for her. She got in and looked at their surroundings. As they had left Hector's house and walked to their vehicles, more people started to watch them. "Get inside the car Andy, please," Sharon said quietly to him. Andy turned around and saw what was happening behind him. He closed her door, stared at the two guys on the sidewalk, and then walked around to the other side. He nodded at Julio. Andy got into the driver's seat and started the car.

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 7

When they returned to the parking garage, Andy looked at Sharon. "Something's not right, Sharon," he said to her. She looked at him with a quizzical look on her face. "How did he know you were a Commander, and I was a Lieutenant? We only told the woman who answered the door," he said to her. She shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe she told him when she went to get him?" Sharon said as she wondered the same thing. "No, I don't like it," Andy said and then watched Sharon slowly step out of their car.

He joined her at the back of their car and waited for Provenza, Julio, and Buzz to join them. "He's hiding something," Andy suggested as he saw the rest of them walk towards Sharon and him. "Commander, I just spoke with Mike. They are at the lab, and the white powder trace they found was some type of explosive," Provenza stated to Sharon as they walked together. "So now, the truck is in isolation and being inspected by the bomb squad. Meanwhile, Mike and Amy are still at the lab," Provenza continued as they stepped onto the elevator.

"So the bomb was in Javier's truck?" Sharon asked as the elevator took them to the ninth floor. "They don't know, I told Mike to keep me informed," Provenza said as they stepped off the elevator. "Buzz, I want you and Julio to go over the footage that you took this morning and see if there's anything unusual," Sharon said to him. "Yes ma'am," Buzz said. Julio and him then turned down the hallway to the RACR room.

Sharon stopped before she entered the Murder Room and then turned to Andy. "I'll be right back, I'm headed to the ladies room," she said and gave him a smile. "You okay?" he looked at her, worried. She nodded yes and then Andy watched her walk towards the bathrooms. "Everything okay with her?" Provenza asked him as he stood there. Andy sighed. "She's got a bruise on her side from when I pulled her to the ground yesterday morning," he said as he scratched the side of his face.

"Oh? Between your black eye and her bruised side, you guys are a walking postcard for the injured," Provenza said to him as they walked into the Murder Room. "Ha, ha, very funny," Andy said as he walked over to Provenza's desk. "But in all seriousness, don't say anything to her, I don't think she wants anyone else to know about it," Andy added. "Her secret is safe," Provenza said as he patted Andy on his back.

"Now, the pending question at hand is how do we prepare for the interview of Hector?" Provenza said as he sat down on his chair. "Did you think anything was odd this morning when we confronted him?" Andy asked. "Odd? Like how?" Provenza asked Andy. "Well, he kept calling Sharon, Commander, even though she never stated her rank or name to him directly. And same for me, he addressed me as Lieutenant," Andy explained. "So?" Provenza said as he shook his head and looked over some papers on his desk.

"So? I'm telling you something was just off that's all," Andy stated as he looked at Provenza. "Hmm, well he will be here soon, you can ask him why he addressed you with your rank when he gets here with his lawyer," Provenza said and then got back to reading his paperwork. "You're no help," Andy muttered and then turned around and went to his desk and waited for Sharon to come back.

Sharon was standing in the ladies room looking at herself in the mirror. She lifted her green shirt up from her waist and saw the black and blue bruise on her side. She thought that the pain was getting worse today, but it was starting to turn a dark purple color. She put her shirt back down and washed her hands. For some reason, speaking with Hector this morning gave her an eerie feeling. She figured that Hector was involved in the explosion but she needed to figure out which role he played in it.

She walked out of the ladies room and headed back towards the Murder Room. She walked by Andy's desk and stopped to talk to him. "Andy, I would like to know some more information on Hector before he gets here," Sharon told him. "Sure," he said and then he touched her hand. "Is everything okay?" he asked her. "It hurts a little bit, but I am going to take some Tylenol when I get in my office," she said hoping that would ease his mind.

In the RACR room, Buzz and Julio were going over the footage that Buzz filmed this morning when they were at Hector's house. "What exactly are we looking for, Buzz?" Julio stated as they watched the video on the big screen. "Something unusual, I guess," Buzz answered him. The video zoomed in on Hector as he stepped out of his house and sat down on the porch. Buzz then panned out to get a better angle and recorded the people walking down the sidewalk as they approached the house. It was a woman and a teenaged kid who stopped and called out to Javier.

Meanwhile, back at the lab, Mike and Amy were trying to figure out where exactly this explosive residue came from. "Trace amounts of it could mean that the person who moved the vehicle had it on their hands or clothing," Mike stated. "So, our bomb maker could be the one who moved the truck from where Javier parked it originally," Amy suggested. "But, how are we going to find this person if there are no fingerprints in the truck other than Javier's?" she added and Mike shook his head. A lab technician handed Mike a report. "The C4 was placed on the propane tank," Mike said. "Why would you do that?" Amy asked. "To make sure whoever you want to kill is dead," Mike stated as he brought his head back to look up at the ceiling.

Back at the PAB, there was a knock on Sharon's door. "Come in," she said and Julio walked in her office. "Buzz and I looked at the video footage that he took at Hector's house. What's really interesting is the woman and teenager who walked up just as we were talking to Hector," Julio stated. Sharon stood up and followed Julio out of her office. She nodded to both Andy and Provenza to follow them into the RACR room.

The doors opened and they walked through. Sharon stood at the side of the screens and Andy stood next to her. Provenza leaned on one of the chairs as they watched the video. "Okay, so this is when they walk up, nothing out of the ordinary, right?" Julio stated. "They exchange words and then they keep going," he added as Buzz moved the video forward. "There's nothing else unusual on the video, however we wanted to know who exactly this woman was who stopped and spoke to Hector," Julio stated.

Sharon turned around to face Julio and Buzz. "So, who is this woman?" Sharon asked them. Julio nodded to Buzz and he pressed a couple of buttons and one of the screens changed with the woman's photo on it. "Meet Gloria Camillo, Javier's ex-wife," Julio stated. "What?" Sharon whispered as she turned around to look at the photo.

Just then, Provenza's cell phone rang and he answered it. "Lieutenant Provenza," he said and paused as he listened to the other person. "Fine, thank you," he said and then hung up his phone. "Hector is on his way up here with his lawyer," he stated to them. "Mike and Amy are still at the lab?" Sharon questioned and Provenza nodded. "Alright, let's get this interview with Hector over with and then I want to know everything about Gloria," Sharon said and then exited the RACR room.

Hector walked inside the Murder Room with his lawyer. Julio met them and walked them both over to the interview room that was set up. Sharon and Andy were inside waiting for Hector as he walked in. "Thank you Detective," Sharon said to Julio as he closed the door. Hector and his lawyer, Mark, sat down across from Sharon and Andy. "Okay Commander, ask all of your questions," Hector said as he sat back in his chair and smiled at her. Andy looked at Sharon and nodded.

"Okay Hector, first of all I need to read you your rights," Sharon said to him. "My client knows his rights," his lawyer stated. "Okay, then let's get started," Sharon said and then nodded to Andy. "Where were you yesterday morning, around ten o'clock?" Andy asked him. Hector glanced at his lawyer before he answered. "I was at home," he said. "Anybody with you there?" Andy asked. "Yeah, my girl and my kids," he answered.

"How did you know Javier Garcia?" Sharon asked him. "He used to be one of us, until he got out," Hector answered. "Why did he get out?" Sharon asked. "Don't know, perhaps he did something bad and was ashamed of it?" Hector stated. "What the hell does that mean?" Provenza asked as they watched the interview. "He's playing with us, sir," Julio stated as they watched in electronics.

"Do you know what he did?" Andy asked him. "No, but I heard rumors around the neighborhood," Hector answered. Sharon then pulled out the letter and showed it to Hector. "We know you wrote this letter to Javier, your fingerprints are all over it," Sharon stated. His lawyer took a look at the letter. "This letter is written in Spanish, Commander," he said. "We had it translated by one of our detectives," Sharon stated and then she looked at Hector.

"Who did he betray?" she asked him. Hector kept looking at her but didn't answer. "Look here Hector, you need to cooperate with us, otherwise we'll arrest you for conspiracy to commit murder," Andy said as he pointed his finger into the table. Hector's lawyer leaned toward Hector and whispered something into his ear. "He betrayed the Echo's," Hector finally stated. "How? How did he betray your gang?" Sharon asked him.

"Someone came to me stating that Javier was into bad things. I had asked them to go into more detail regarding bad things, but they were hesitant at first," Hector stated. "What kind of bad things?" Andy asked him. "You know, into kids' stuff, those kinds of things," Hector answered. "Who came to you?" Sharon asked him. "I'd prefer not to say, Commander," Hector stated as he sat there across from them.

"Did you write this letter?" Sharon asked him. "Yes, I did," Hector stated without hesitation. "Why'd you write it?" Andy asked him. "Because, like I said, someone came to me and needed my help. I used to hang with Javier when he was in the Echo's and we were friends then. When Javier got out of the gangs, he told me he did because he wanted a fresh start from all of time he spent in jail. I could understand that," Hector stated.

"I wrote that letter as a warning to him to stop whatever he was doing, because it was affecting the neighborhood," Hector continued. "Why didn't anyone contact the police?" Sharon asked him. "The Echo's take care of our own," he said. Sharon glanced at Andy. They weren't getting the answers they needed.

"Hector, we need to know who approached you about Javier," Sharon asked him. "I don't remember," Hector said and sat back in his chair. "Was it Gloria Camillo?" she asked. "Gloria? Who's Gloria?" Hector asked. "Oh come on, Hector! You know who Gloria is, she walked by your house this morning when we were there," Andy said to him. He was tired of the circles that Hector was doing. "Gloria, no, she had nothing to do with this," Hector said and shook his head.

"Javier's ex-wife had nothing to do with this?" Sharon asked and Hector looked at her. "How'd you know they were married?" Hector asked. "It's our job to investigate, pal," Andy stated to him and Hector then looked at Andy. "Who else knew about what Javier was doing?" Sharon asked him. "I'm sure Gloria knew, that's why she divorced him," Hector stated. "But, I don't know that for sure," he added. "What do you know?" Andy asked and Hector smiled.

"I know, Commander, that you investigated another murder that happened within the Echo's territory," Hector said and Andy didn't like where this conversation was heading. "What does that have to do with anything here?" Sharon asked. "Why would he bring that up?" Buzz asked. "He's trying to find some sort of leverage, Buzz," Provenza said as they watched. "A bargaining chip, but where is he going exactly with it?" Julio stated as they continued to watch.

"What murder are you talking about Hector?" Andy asked him but Hector's eyes were focused on Sharon. "Hmm, how could you forget? The mother of a young boy found murdered in Echo territory," Hector stated as he still focused on Sharon. Andy was getting frustrated at this point. "That has nothing to do with this investigation," Sharon stated. "Oh, I wonder what happened to that little boy. Rebecca used to bring him around and hang out at the park a few years ago. Seemed like a nice kid," Hector stated.

At this point, Hector was trying to get a rise out of both of them, and it worked. "Who's Rebecca?" Andy asked him. Hector looked at him. "Don't play dumb with me, Lieutenant," Hector said and Andy stood up and slammed his hand onto the table. "Hey! You watch it, pal! We ask the questions here not you!" Andy said as his face turned red and pointed his finger at Hector.

"Lieutenant!" Sharon sternly called Andy by his rank and he sat back down. "Look, Mark, if you're client doesn't want to cooperate here, we will arrest him for first degree murder," Sharon said to his lawyer. "You can't do that, my client didn't do anything wrong," his lawyer, Mark, stated. "Except for being an accessory to murder, and we can hold him for that," Sharon stated and Hector slumped in his chair.

"Who does this guy think he is?" Provenza questioned as they watched the interview. "That's what happens when you are the leader of a gang, sir, you think you are untouchable," Julio stated. "Well, this guy is just plain annoying if you ask me," Provenza said. "I think the Commander just put him back in his place," Buzz stated. "But why do you think he brought up the murder of Matthew's birth mother?" Buzz added. "I don't know," Provenza muttered as they continued to watch the interview.

"Now, I'm going to ask you again, who brought up Javier to you?" Sharon asked Hector in her stern voice. "Gloria's kid," Hector said after a short pause. "What's his name?" Sharon asked. "Michael, but they call him Miko for short," Hector stated and then sat up in his chair. "He just came to me after he saw some pictures in his father's apartment when he was there last. He didn't want to tell his mother so he trusted me enough to let me know," Hector explained further.

"Who killed Javier?" Sharon asked again. "I don't know," Hector said. "I don't believe you Hector," Andy stated. "Now look, you've been giving us the runaround, not being truthful with your answers," Andy added. "Did you order the hit on Javier?" Sharon asked. "An explosion is pretty much personal if you ask me," Andy stated. "It's not like a shooting that happens every day," he added. "It's pretty much thought out and takes some time to plan, you probably didn't do it yourself, cause you're not into handling explosives, so you reached out to someone else and had them do it," Andy explained as Hector looked at the table.

"Did you give the order?" Sharon asked. Hector looked up at her. "No," he stated. "Alright, I think we have had enough here with this line of questioning. If you are going to charge my client with murder, I suggest you do so, otherwise, we are leaving," his lawyer stated and started to pack up his things. "Hold on a second, Mark," Sharon stated as she put her hand up. "I will charge Hector here with accessory to murder, and we can let the courts decide his fate, or he can tell us who killed Javier Garcia!" Sharon stated as she was done playing this game with Hector.

Hector sat there as his lawyer spoke into his ear. "Just tell them what they want to know, Hector. This has gone on far enough," he said. Hector sighed. "Fine, Gloria came to me and told me about Javier and how she didn't want her kid to hang out with his father anymore. I told her that I would take care of it. I confronted Javier at his apartment but he didn't want to listen to me. Told me that he had these fantasies with children, I didn't want to hear that so I left. I wrote him that letter but I didn't kill him," Hector stated.

"Do you know who killed him?" Sharon asked again. "Gloria does," Hector said. Sharon's eyes widened. "I thought you told us she wasn't involved?" she said. Hector shrugged his shoulders.

"Julio, find Gloria's address and have patrol pick her and her son up. I think the Commander is going to want to speak to her, very soon," Provenza stated and Julio left electronics.

"Why did you bring up Rebecca Norris's murder?" Sharon asked Hector. "Because I know your team was involved in that investigation. Stupid Enrico and Jaime, I couldn't believe what they did to her when I heard that. I wondered what happened to her son, that's all. He was a nice kid. It would be a shame if he ended up in the system," Hector stated. Sharon shook her head. She was tired of dealing with this guy. She glanced at Andy and could tell he was tired of him too.

"Hector Dominguez, you're under arrest for accessory to murder," Sharon started to say and Andy stood up and circled around the table. He grabbed a hold of Hector's arm and stood him up. "Face the wall and place your arms behind your back," Andy said as he took his handcuffs out. Sharon opened the door and there were two patrol officers standing there to take Hector down to booking.

"Wait a minute, I told you who to talk to!" Hector yelled as Andy placed the handcuffs on him. "Fine, I'll throw in an obstruction charge as well," Sharon stated. "You want more, keep talking!" Sharon said. "By the way, Rebecca's son is doing just fine," Andy muttered to Hector as he handed him off to the patrol officers and his lawyer followed them out of the interview room.

Sharon and Andy stood there for a moment before Provenza interrupted them. He cleared his throat. "Commander, Julio is checking on Gloria's whereabouts right now and we are having patrol pick her and her son up and bring them here," Provenza stated as they walked out of the interview room. "Good," Sharon said as she took a deep breath. "If you'll excuse me," she said to him and Andy and then walked into her office. Andy watched her sit down and pull out her phone.

Sharon pressed Nicole's name on her phone and waited for her to answer. "Hi Nicole, I was just checking on Matthew to see how he was doing," Sharon stated over the phone. "He's having fun. Avery, Colin, and him are building a sand castle right now," Nicole informed her. "Good, that's good. Um, I don't know how long we are going to be here today, so," Sharon started. "Don't worry about him, Sharon," Nicole said, reassuring her step-mom. Sharon smiled as Nicole continued to speak to her.

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 8

Andy hung up his phone at his desk and turned around to see what Sharon was doing in her office. She was sitting at her desk so he decided to join her. He knocked on her door frame and walked inside. "Hey," he said to her as he took a seat. "Hey," she replied back as she read something on the case file. She then handed it to Andy for him to read. They sat there in silence for a couple of minutes before Andy spoke again.

"Do you think Hector had any involvement in Rebecca Norris's murder?" Andy said to Sharon as he sat in her office going through the case file. Sharon sat back in her chair and sighed. She glanced at the clock. It was now one in the afternoon and they were still waiting for patrol to bring Gloria Camillo in for questioning. "I don't know, why else would he bring her murder up?" Sharon asked as she looked behind Andy and saw Mike and Amy walk back into the office.

Andy turned in his chair and saw them enter the room. He then turned back to face Sharon. "Look, Sharon, we got a conviction on her murder last year. Enrico and Jaime confessed to killing her because she was going to go to the cops," Andy said to her as he was trying to get her to stop second-guessing that investigation. She sat there and listened to him. "That's how he knew us, from that investigation," he added.

"Right, but, I was Captain back then, not Commander," Sharon said as she folded her arms across her chest and leaned back in her chair. "The obstruction charge might hold, but unless this Gloria person implicates Hector, he's going to go free in a couple of days," Andy said as he folded his hands on her desk. "What do you think this is all about?" Sharon asked him. "Is it about Javier and his fantasies with children?" Sharon asked as Andy sat there.

"No, he would have been under investigation for that, or at the very least been a registered offender," Andy stated. "Would he of though? If the police were not aware of what he was doing," Sharon added. "You don't think it had anything to do with that?" Andy asked her as he shifted in his chair. "Not really, think about it, you can get images off of the internet now, right?" Sharon said. "Yeah?" Andy followed her train of thought. "So, if you can do that, then why would you have prints of those photos?" Sharon asked.

"Where is the Cyber Crime division with that report from the photos?" Sharon asked him. "Uh, as far as I know, they are still working on it. I can call down to them and ask what their progress is," Andy said and then he started to stand up from his chair. "Please find out and let me know," Sharon told him. She stood up as well, but when she did, felt an immediate sharp pain in her left side. She winced and her hand went to hold her side.

Andy rushed over to her. "Sharon," he called out in a hushed voice and he grab a hold of her to steady her on her feet. Sharon closed her eyes and waited for the pain to go away, which it did. "I'm okay," she said to him and straightened her back. Just then her desk phone rang and she moved over to answer it. "Commander Flynn," she said into the receiver. Andy watched her as she listened to the other person on the phone. "Okay, thank you for letting me know," she said and then hung up the phone.

"That was the watch commander from the other night when you got punched in the eye," Sharon said to him. "Really, what did he want?" Andy asked. "He wanted to inform me that the two men, who they arrested in that brawl, are being released. Apparently they made bail and have a pending court date in three weeks for the incident," she said and Andy shook his head. "It's been a hell of a weekend," he muttered. "Yes it has," Sharon said and gave him a weary smile.

"If it hurts you that much, maybe we should get you to a doctor, have them take a look at it?" he gestured to her side as she made her way around her desk. "Nothing's broken, Andy, it's just a bruise. I've had them before, it just needs to heal on its own," she reassured him as she ran her hand down his shirt. "How come you can worry about me but I can't worry about you?" he asked her. Sharon smiled at him but didn't say a word.

"Come on, let's go see what Mike and Amy have to say," Sharon said, changing the subject, and Andy waited for her to walk towards the door where he joined her. Mike was standing by Provenza's desk explaining something to him and Provenza didn't want to hear any of it. "Come on Tao, can't you just sum it up for us?" Provenza asked. "Fine," Mike huffed as he saw Sharon and Andy walk over to join them.

"Okay, so the lab found traces of an explosive inside Javier's truck. Now, the only way it could have got in there is if the bomber moved his truck from where he had parked it at the drop off site," Mike started to explain. "What type of explosive was it?" Andy asked him. "C4," Mike stated and Sharon sighed. "So wait a minute, there was C4 mixed in with the propane tank on the vendor cart?" Provenza asked. "We're lucky the whole park didn't explode with it," Andy said.

"Ah, the reason why the whole park did not explode with this explosion was because the C4 caused an implosion within the tank," Mike explained. Provenza shook his head. "What do you mean by that, Mike?" Sharon asked him. "Well, the C4, was positioned on the tank as so, and then when the timer went off, it caused an internal combustion within the tank, therefor only exploding the tank, cart, and Javier," Mike stated as he drew a picture on the Murder Board.

"So, we need to figure out who moved the truck then," Sharon stated as she leaned up against an empty chair. "And whoever moved the truck," Andy said. "Is most likely our bomber," Julio finished. Andy turned around and sat down at his desk. He needed to call Cyber Crimes division and figure out where they were with those pictures.

Meanwhile, Sharon stood there talking with Mike about who their potential bomber could be. "This person wasn't a professional per se, Commander," Mike said to her. "Why do you say that?" Sharon asked him. "Well, for starters, a professional isn't going to leave any traces of the explosive behind," Mike stated. "So are we talking an amateur? If so, how'd they get their hands on C4?" Sharon questioned.

"Unfortunately, you can make C4, just follow the ingredients on the internet," Mike said as he showed Sharon on his computer. "You would only need a small amount of C4 to do the explosion," Mike added. "So, someone could make a small amount of it without anyone knowing?" Sharon wondered. "In theory, yes," Mike stated and Sharon walked over to the Murder Board.

Julio hung up his phone. "That was patrol ma'am, they found Gloria and they're bringing her in now," he stated as he turned his chair to face Sharon. "Good, I want you and Provenza to do the interview with her," Sharon stated. "What about her son?" Provenza asked. "Patrol says he's with her," Julio answered him. "Well we can't ask him any questions without his mom present in the room," Provenza stated. "Yes, Lieutenant, I am well aware of that rule," Sharon stated and tried to figure out their next move.

Minutes later, two patrol officers escorted Gloria and her son into the Murder Room. Sharon nodded at Provenza and he stood up from his desk and met them. "Ah, Gloria Camillo, please, right this way," Provenza said and then showed her the way to the interview room and Julio followed them. Sharon stood there as she watched Gloria's son react to his mother being led away from him. The boy didn't seem to be too upset.

"Michael?" Sharon said to the boy and he turned around and looked at her. "Why don't you have a seat in our conference room while we speak to your mother. There's a TV in there if you want to watch anything," Sharon said as she nodded to the patrol officers. Sharon watched them lead the teenage boy to the conference room and then she turned around, letting out a breath she didn't realize she was holding.

Andy walked up to her. "Let's see what Gloria has to say," he told her as they both walked over to Electronics. Buzz had everything set up when they entered the room. Sharon took her seat at the table and watched the interview unfold. Andy stood behind her and watched.

"Okay, Gloria, we have some questions for you regarding your late husband, Javier Garcia," Provenza started to tell her as he sat down. "Ex-husband, you mean," Gloria corrected him. "Yes, my apologies, your ex-husband," Provenza stated to her. "What do you want to know? I'm glad he's dead," she stated as she sat there. Julio looked at Provenza who was equally stunned at her statement. "Woah, she's a little bitter isn't she?" Amy said to the rest of them in Electronics. "Yes, she is," Sharon said as they continued to watch the interview.

"Before we start, we need to read you your rights," Provenza stated and Julio read them to her. "I waive my rights, what do you want to know?" Gloria asked. "Where were you yesterday morning, miss?" Julio asked her. "I was at home with Michael, my son," she answered. "Do you know of anyone who would want to hurt your ex-husband?" Provenza asked her. "He ran with the Echo's for a long time, I'm sure he developed enemies all over the place," she answered him. "But your ex-husband got out of the gang life, after he got out of prison," Julio mentioned. "He tried, said that he did, but I didn't believe him," she said as she fidgeted with her hands.

"She's lying about something," Andy stated as he stood behind Sharon. "Yes, but what?" Sharon said as she glanced at the other monitor that showed Michael, aka Miko, in the conference room sitting there watching TV.

"When did you get divorced?" Provenza asked her. "Three years ago, when I found out that he liked looking at children without any clothes on," she stated. "Why didn't you go to the police then?" Julio asked her. "Are you kidding me? The police wouldn't have done anything," she said. "Besides, I didn't want my son to see his father and the judge decided against him and gave me full custody," she added.

"What judge would allow someone who's been accused by another person of child pornography to go Scott free?" Mike asked as they continued watching the interview. Just then, Andy's cell phone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket. "Lieutenant Flynn," he stated as he answered it. "Yes Sargent," he said as he moved to one corner of the room. It was Sargent Hamels from Cyber Crimes calling him back. "Okay, thanks," Andy said and then hung up the phone.

"That was Sargent Hamels from Cyber Crimes, they went through those pictures we found at Javier's apartment. They're all genuine pictures. He said that they have seen it where people meet up at locations around the city and exchange these types of photos," Andy stated. "Unbelievable," Amy said as she shook her head. "Anyway, they are going to be working with the FBI Cyber Crimes division and sharing the information that they discovered from the pictures with them," Andy concluded. "Good, now we can concentrate on finding out who murdered Javier," Sharon stated as she turned back to watch the interview continue.

"Gloria, I need to let you know that we had Hector here a while ago and he told us that you know who killed your ex-husband, now he also told us some other things, that are just not coinciding with your story you're telling us. I'm not here to judge, Gloria, but I need you to start telling me the truth," Provenza stated to her as he leaned his arms against the table. Gloria sat there but she didn't say a word.

Sharon watched the exchange on the monitor and then glanced at the other monitor of Michael in the conference room. "I killed him," Sharon heard Gloria state. "What?" Amy said and Mike was equally shocked. "I don't think she knows how to make C4, Commander," Mike said and Sharon quickly told them to be quiet so that they could hear Gloria.

"How did you do it?" Provenza asked her. "I knew he was going to be using his vendor cart yesterday morning at that park and I just didn't want him being around the children there or ever again so I made his gas tank explode on the cart, taking him with," she stated. Provenza looked at Julio and shook his head. "How'd you make the gas tank explode?" he asked her. She looked up at him but she didn't answer the question.

"She's covering for someone," Sharon stated as they watched. "But who is she covering for?" Andy added. "Mike, you said that you could get the recipe off the internet to make C4, correct?" Sharon asked him. "Yes," he replied. "I don't believe Gloria knows how to make C4, but I bet her son does," Sharon said as she glanced at the other monitor. "Tell Lieutenant Provenza that I think her son, Michael, is involved and I want to interview him," Sharon told Buzz. Buzz then spoke into the microphone and alerted Provenza to what Sharon was thinking.

"We need her permission to speak to her son, as he is thirteen years old," Sharon said as she stood up from her chair and Andy followed her. Sharon opened the door to the interview room and confronted Gloria. "Miss Camillo, I need to talk to your son Michael, about his involvement in this," Sharon stated to her. "He didn't do anything, it was all me," Gloria pleaded as she cried. Sharon sat down as Julio gave her his chair.

"Gloria, did Javier ever touch Michael inappropriately?" Sharon asked her in a calming voice. Gloria looked at her and then put her head down. "I told him that if he ever touched him again, that I would kill him," she stated. "Is that when you went to Hector and told him about it?" Sharon asked her. "Yes," she nodded. "Then what happened?" Sharon asked her. "Hector told me that he confronted Javier and wrote him a letter, basically telling him to watch out," Gloria said between sniffles.

"Did Michael ever say anything to you about it?" Sharon asked her. "No," Gloria stated as she wiped her tears from her eyes. "Michael didn't do anything wrong, I did it," Gloria again stated that. Sharon sat there for a minute before proceeding. "I know you're his mother and would do anything for him, even take the blame for murdering Javier," Sharon said, trying to reason with her.

"I noticed when you walked in the room with Michael, he had a tear drop tattoo by his eye," Sharon stated to her. "He drew that on with a pen, my son would not get a tattoo like that," Gloria said. "Do you know what that symbol means, Gloria?" Sharon asked her. Gloria shook her head no. "Is he involved in a gang?" she asked her. Gloria hesitated at first, but nodded her head yes. "Does he have a phone?" Sharon asked her. "Yes," she said. "I need your permission to talk to him," Sharon said as she grabbed Gloria's hand.

She was reaching out to her, mother to mother, in hopes of getting her to cooperate with them. Gloria nodded her head yes, and gave them permission to speak to Michael. Sharon turned around and nodded to Andy who left the room and headed over to the conference room. Sharon then told Provenza and Julio that she wanted to interview Michael with Gloria present and that they would probably need DA's involvement sooner rather than later. "I'll call them," Provenza stated and then left the room.

Sharon knew this interview was going to be rough, but it had to be done. She sat there waiting for Andy to return with Michael, knowing that this was not how they thought they would get their killer.

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 9

Andy walked back into the room with Michael. "Mom!" he said as he sat next to his mother on the other side of the table. "Is everything okay, mom?" he asked her and she nodded. "I need you to answer the questions that these police officers are going to ask you, truthfully Michael," Gloria told him as she ran her hand along his face. Andy took a seat next to Sharon and Sharon started to ask her questions.

"Michael, or should I call you Miko?" Sharon stated and Michael just looked at her. "We have some difficult questions to ask you and I need you to tell us the truth, but first I need to read you your rights, do you understand?" Sharon said to him. "Yes," Michael nodded as he sat there. Andy read Michael his rights in a way that he would understand them. Andy was always good with the children who they had as suspects or witnesses. "Okay, Michael, we need to know about your dad," Sharon asked him. "What about him?" Michael shrugged his shoulders.

"Did he do anything fun with you, like take you on trips or anything like that?" Sharon asked him figuring that question was innocent enough to start. "Yeah, he used to do that," he stated. "Were you ever alone with him?" Andy asked him. "Sometimes," Michael shrugged his shoulders. "Did he ever do anything to you, like touch you in any way?" Andy asked him. Michael was silent as he sat there. "It's okay honey," Gloria said to him and placed her arm around him. "Yes," Michael answered and then explained what occurred.

Meanwhile, Provenza called up the DA's office and got the on-call DA, Emma Rios, and informed her of what their case was about. "I'll be over there as soon as I can Lieutenant," Emma informed him and he hung up the phone. "Who'd you get sir?" Julio asked him. "Rios, she's on her way over here," Provenza said as he sat down on the chair. "Why couldn't Hobbs be on call today," he muttered to himself as they continued to watch the interview from Electronics. "DDA Rios has been contacted, Commander," Buzz informed Sharon through her earpiece and she nodded.

Mike was looking through the kid's phone when he stumbled on a google search that made the hairs on his arm stand up. "Oh boy," he mumbled as he looked at the rest of the team. "What is it, Tao?" Provenza asked as he turned in his chair. "This kid downloaded the _Anarchist Cookbook_ onto his phone," Mike said as he held it up to show them. Provenza nodded to Buzz. "Lieutenant Tao found the information on the kid's phone, Commander," Buzz informed Sharon.

Sharon took a deep breath, and felt a slight twinge in her side again but she shifted in her chair. Andy glanced at her with a worried look but she waved him off. "Michael, what type of vehicle did your dad own?" Sharon asked him. "A pickup truck," he said. "And did he ever let you drive it?" she asked him. "Once in a while, when he needed help loading his cart, I would drive it around the block," Michael said. "Where were you yesterday morning?" Andy asked him. "I was with my dad," Michael hesitated and Gloria closed her eyes.

The back door opened in the Electronics room and DDA Rios walked in the room. "Where are we in this interview?" she said as she walked over to stand behind Provenza. "Well, a good afternoon to you too, Deputy DA Rios," Provenza stated. Emma looked at him and shook her head. "This kid is about to confess to committing the murder of his father," Julio informed Emma. "Yes, but the kid was also abused by his father," Provenza added.

"Michael, are you part of the Echo Park Locos?" Sharon asked him. Michael sat up straighter in his chair. "Hector said I could be a part of his gang," Michael said. "Is that so, what did you have to do?" Andy asked him. "What do you mean?" Michael asked. "Usually, when you join a gang, there's an initiation process, what was yours?" Andy asked him. Michael just sat there looking at Andy and at Sharon. "Hector said I needed to gain the respect of the other members, otherwise they would just think I'm some kid," Michael stated.

"So what happened?" Sharon asked as Michael sat there. "I did some research on the internet, I wanted it to look like an accident, but I told Hector what I did," Michael said and Sharon then looked up at the camera. Provenza got her silent look and turned to Julio. "Get Hector back up here," he said to Julio and then Julio left the room with Amy.

"He drew the teardrop on my face, told me I was one of them now," Michael added. "Hector knew what my dad did to me. I didn't want him to do that to anyone else!" Michael stated. "What exactly did you do, Michael?" Andy asked him. "I found out how to make C4 and I took a little bit of it and put it on the propane tank of the vendor cart. I bought a timer at the local hardware store down the street and set it up from pictures on the internet. I went with him to the park yesterday morning and knew that the timer would go off. I moved his truck to the parking lot and waited for the explosion to occur. I got out of the truck and ran away, took a bus back home," Michael finally confessed.

Andy looked at Sharon as he leaned back in his chair. "I didn't want him hurting anybody else," Michael said. "Okay," Sharon said as she handed Michael a notepad. "Do you think you can write this all down for us?" she asked him and he nodded, and grabbed the notepad. Sharon and Andy stood up. "We'll just be a minute," Sharon told the two officers standing outside and they walked into the room.

Sharon then walked over to Electronics and Emma Rios walked out the door meeting her at the doorway. "So what do you think?" Sharon asked her. "He was abused, he killed his abuser because he thought that would get him in the good graces of the gang, I don't know Commander," Emma stated and then moved from the doorway.

"Julio and Amy went down to holding to bring Hector back up here, maybe we can throw in a conspiracy charge on him," Provenza stated to Sharon. Sharon rubbed her eyes as Andy placed his hand on her shoulder. "You need a break," Andy whispered to her. "I'm fine, let's finish this case," she told him and then saw Hector being led into the room by Amy and Julio. "Take him to interview room 2, please," Sharon said and they brought him over there. "Hey! Wait a minute!" Hector said but Amy and Julio both ignored him and placed him in the interview room.

"Lieutenant Provenza, please join me," Sharon said as she started to walk towards interview room 2. Provenza gave a quick glance at Andy before following her there. Andy watched them and then went inside Electronics to watch the interview with Hector. Andy had a seat and watched the monitors. One had Michael and his mother and the other one had Hector.

"Hector, Hector, you were not telling us the truth earlier," Provenza stated as he sat down, followed by Sharon who also took a seat. "What do you mean, man?" Hector asked as he sat there slumped in the chair. "You lied to us, told us that you had nothing to do with the murder of Javier Garcia," Provenza added. "I didn't," Hector claimed. "Oh, but you did, Hector," Sharon stated as she stared at him.

Andy and Buzz watched from Electronics. "Here we go," Andy mumbled and Buzz glanced at him and then back at the monitors.

"You told an innocent boy that in order to belong and get respect from your gang, he had to commit murder," Sharon said to him as she gestured with her right hand and pointed to the empty wall. Hector just sat there. "Then when he comes back to you and tells you what he did, you congratulate him and draw a teardrop tattoo on his face," Provenza added and again Hector just sat there. "What should I have done, hmm? That stupid kid was always hanging around us, wanting to be a part of us; I told him that he needed to prove himself to the Echo's. I didn't tell him to murder his own father!" Hector claimed.

"No, you didn't, but when he went to you and told you about what Javier did to him you told him to get revenge instead of getting help from the police," Sharon stated. "You can't prove that," Hector stated. "No, but I can prove this. You confronted Javier about his issue, correct?" Sharon asked. "Yes," Hector muttered. "You wrote him a letter, stating that he betrayed everyone and to watch his back, correct?" she added. "Yes," again Hector muttered. "You had prior knowledge that Michael was going to kill his father, and you chose to do nothing about it," Sharon stated.

"I didn't know that, I thought he was joking!" Hector yelled out. "Why did Javier really get out of the gang?" Sharon asked him but Hector looked down at the table. "Was it because he didn't like how you were running things?" she asked and he looked up at her. "You took over his leadership after he spent the time in jail, and when he got out, you told him you were in charge. He went along with it for a while, at least, and then Rebecca Norris gets killed by your two guys. He was friends with her, and confronted you about it. That's why he left the gang," Sharon stated to him.

"I revived the Echo's after he went to jail," Hector stated like he was proud of achieving that. "Now who's going to revive them when you go to jail?" Provenza asked and Hector just sat there. Both Provenza and Sharon stood up from their chairs and walked out. Two patrol officers then took Hector away back to holding where there would be an added charge to his original arrest.

"I did not see that coming," Buzz muttered and Andy sat back in his chair. "Thank you gentlemen, I now have a case to prosecute. It's always interesting with you guys," Emma stated as she left Electronics. She walked out the hallway and met Sharon and Provenza coming back into the office. "DDA Rios, leaving so soon?" Provenza said in a hopeful voice. Emma smiled at him and then turned to Sharon. "Thanks for the case, Commander," she said.

"I'm probably going to prosecute Michael as a juvenile in this," Emma said to her and Sharon nodded. "I'll get a court appointed attorney for them as well," Emma said and then walked away. Sharon was shocked that Emma Rios was in such a good mood at the end. "Why is she in a good mood?" she asked not thinking that Provenza heard her. "She probably got a new broom stick!" Provenza stated and then shrugged his shoulders when Sharon turned around to glare at him.

Sharon and Provenza both then walked into Electronics. "Thank you everyone for your hard work in this particular case," Sharon said to everyone there. "I'm sorry this had to occur on our weekend off," she added. Everyone nodded and then left the room. Sharon and Andy were still in there after everyone left. Andy glanced at his watch. It was now close to seven at night. "How are you holding up?" he asked her as they stood there.

Sharon shrugged her shoulders as he wrapped an arm around her. She shook her head. "He was so desperate to fit into that crowd that he would do anything, even murder his own father," she spoke quietly. "He was also molested by his father, it's a double edged sword," Andy said as he pulled her in for a hug. "Thank you for finding out that information regarding Javier and Rebecca," she muffled into his shoulder. "Well, I didn't want you to worry about Matthew being a possible victim, so I did a little research in between everything else. Contacted a buddy of mine down at Gang Intel and got a crash course on the Echo Park Locos over the phone," Andy said as he continued to hold her.

"Come on, let's get this paperwork finished and then we can pick Matthew up and head home for the night," Andy told her as he moved her from his arms and she smiled at him. They walked out of Electronics and she headed to her office while he walked over to the Murder Board and helped Amy take down all of the pictures they had up there.

They were all sitting at their desks working on the finishing touches of the paperwork. "I'll call Doctor Morales and tell him that we closed our case, just so he knows," Mike said to everyone as he picked up his desk phone. The team finished their paperwork and placed the items in a box and labeled it. Julio then took the box to the storage room and Amy collected all of the reports and handed them to Andy. "Have a good night, Lieutenant," Amy said to him. "You too," he said and then she grabbed her things and left the office.

Mike turned off his computer and stood up. He put his jacket on and grabbed his baseball hat. "Good night, everyone," he said as he waved to the group. "Night," Provenza said as Mike left the office. Provenza noticed that Buzz was still in the office. "Buzz, why are you still here?" Provenza asked. "Julio gave me a ride today, sir," Buzz answered. "Oh," Provenza said and then walked over to Andy's desk.

"Hey, throughout all of this, that watch commander from the other night called Sharon and told her that the two guys we helped arrest from the brawl made bail and they have a pending court date in three weeks," Andy informed Provenza as he stood in front of him. "Okay, so?" Provenza said as he looked at his friend. "So, we might be called to testify, that's all," Andy said. "I'll mark my calendar," Provenza told him. Provenza then glanced in Sharon's office. "You two should go home, hug that kid of yours," he said to Andy and then turned around and headed back to his desk.

"Yeah," Andy said as he turned around in his chair to see what Sharon was doing in her office. She placed Rebecca Norris's file back into her filing cabinet by her desk and closed the drawer. She then glanced up and saw Andy watching her. She smiled at him and stood up from her chair. She grabbed her jacket and her purse and Andy met her at her office door. "Ready?" he asked her. "Ready," she said and they walked out of the office together holding hands.

When they got down to the parking garage, Andy held Sharon's door open for her to get in the car. He then walked around to the driver's side and got in himself. He started the car and then glanced at Sharon. "What did you want to do for dinner?" he asked her. "I texted Nicole that we were finished and headed over to her house now to pick up Matthew, she said that they cooked something on the grill and said we are more than welcome to eat there," Sharon informed him. "Okay," Andy said and then started to drive them over to Nicole's house.

Sharon looked out the window as she held Andy's right hand. You could still see the fire blaze in the distance. "I hope Matthew doesn't worry too much about that wildfire," she said as Andy drove. "You know how he gets worried about those things," she added. "Yeah, he should be alright though," Andy said as he exited the 101 and headed north on Silver Lake Boulevard. Sharon shifted in her seat and then turned the radio on to a classical music station.

"You know, before summer is over we should invite Provenza and Patrice over for a cookout, we could have Nicole, Dean, and the boys over as well," Sharon suggested. "Yeah, we could do that," Andy smiled and thought about when they would be able to have them over. "We could have them over and you would get your pool party as well," Sharon said as she looked at him. "The whole point of the pool party was to have it be just you and me," Andy said in a seductive voice as he brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it.

Andy pulled into their driveway and parked the car. "What were they having?" he asked Sharon as he helped her step out of the car. "Nicole assured me it would be something you could eat," she said as they walked up to the front door. Sharon rang the doorbell as Andy looked at her. He gave her a wink and his smile. Nicole opened the front door and invited them inside. "Come on in," Nicole said as she gave Sharon a hug. "Hi Dad," Nicole said as she gave Andy a hug as well. "Hi sweetheart," Andy said to her.

"The boys are outside playing in the yard, I can call them in if you want," Nicole said as they made their way into the kitchen. "No need, let them play," Sharon said as she took a seat at the kitchen table. Andy sat down next to her after getting them both a glass of water. Dean then walked over and placed two plates in front of both of them. "Here you are," Dean said. "Wow Dean, this looks really good," Sharon said as she looked at the plate in front of her.

There was grilled salmon, some potatoes, and broccoli. "So, did you solve your case?" Nicole asked them as they ate. "Yes, we did, didn't go exactly as we thought it would but we did solve it," Sharon said as Andy was busy eating. "This is really good, Dean," Andy said as he took a bite of the salmon. "I'm glad you like it," Dean said as he sat next to Nicole.

Avery and Colin ran into the house chasing Matthew and all three of them entered the kitchen. "Mom! Dad! You're back!" Matthew said and gave a hug to Sharon. Sharon hugged him and smelled his hair. "You smell like the ocean, sweetie," Sharon said to him. "Yes, he probably needs a bath when he gets home," Nicole said. "I washed off the sand on my feet," Matthew stated. "Yes, but you should get a bath or shower tonight, before you go to bed," Sharon said to him.

Avery and Colin were both hanging around Andy as he tried to eat his food. "Avery and Colin leave grandpa alone while he's trying to eat," Nicole told them. "Oh no, it's okay. I don't mind them," Andy said as he had Avery sitting on his knee while he ate dinner. "Why don't the three of you go play in the living room," Dean suggested and the boys ran off.

Sharon and Andy ate the rest of their dinner and had a nice talk with both Nicole and Dean. Afterwards, Andy stood up and walked over to the living room to see what the boys were up to. They were playing some video game on Xbox. Andy decided to sit down on the couch and watch them while Sharon was still in the kitchen speaking with Nicole.

Fifteen minutes later, Sharon went in search of Andy and found him sitting on the couch, fast asleep. The boys were still playing the video game. "Matthew, we're going to get going soon," Sharon told Matthew and he went into their mud room area and got his bag that he had brought with him this morning. Sharon leaned in to Andy's ear. "Sweetheart, you need to wake up, we need to get home," she whispered to him. He groaned as he lifted his head and found Sharon staring back at him. "Was I sleeping?" he asked her. "Yes," she nodded and he started to stand up from the couch.

"Sorry," Andy whispered to Sharon as he walked around the couch. "You don't need to be sorry," she smiled and then grabbed his hand and held it in hers. "Bye Nicole," Sharon turned to his daughter as they left their house. "Bye," she said and kissed Sharon on her cheek. She did the same for her dad. "Bye sweetheart," Andy said to her. "Thank you," Matthew waved as he left. "I hope you had fun today," Nicole and Dean waved to them as they walked back to their car.

"Did you have fun today?" Sharon asked Matthew as she held his bag for him while he got in the car. "Yes, we built this huge sand castle and then buried Dean in the sand as well. We wanted to stay longer at the beach but Nicole and Dean both told us no," he pouted as he put his seat belt on. Sharon handed him his bag and closed the door. Andy held her door open for her and she got settled into the passenger seat. He then closed the door and waved to his daughter and son-in-law again before getting into the driver's seat and drove them home.

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

 **A/N:** I am deeply saddened by the turn of events and the cancellation of this wonderful show. I will do everything I can to keep writing new fanfiction with our favorite characters from Major Crimes.

Chapter 10

When they arrived home, Matthew ran into the house, Sharon and Andy were right behind him. "Head upstairs and straight into the bathroom!" Sharon called out to him. Moxie walked over to where Andy was standing in the kitchen and nudged his hand with his head. "Do you need to go out?" he asked the dog and Moxie wagged his tail. "Come on," he told the dog as he walked towards the back door. "I'll be upstairs with Matthew," Sharon called out to him as he walked away.

Sharon then headed upstairs and heard the water running from the bathroom in the hallway. She went into Matthew's room and saw that there were clothes haphazardly lying all over his floor. She shook her head and waited for Matthew to be finished before asking him to pick up his clothes. She looked around his room and found a picture of him and his birth mother that they had framed so that he still had something from her in his room. Sharon thought about how different their lives would have been if his birth mother hadn't been killed last year.

She heard the water turn off and then a couple of minutes later, heard the bathroom door open and Matthew walked into his room, wearing his pajamas. "I'm all clean now," he said as he saw her standing in his room. "Good, now you can pick up all of these clothes that are lying all over the place," Sharon said to him. "Sorry, I was looking for my pajamas and couldn't find them," Matthew said as he started to pick up his clothes. "So, you thought you would throw your clothes on the floor?" Sharon asked as she helped him fold his shirts. Matthew just shrugged his shoulders and waited for Sharon to fold his shirts before he put them away in his drawers.

Meanwhile, Andy took Moxie for a walk out front. As they were walking, you could smell the smoke from the wildfire even though it was north of them in the Burbank area. 'It would have to jump the mountains before it threatened us' Andy thought as he waited for Moxie to do his business. He saw a man walking down the street away from him with a dog. Once Moxie was done, they headed back to the house. The neighbors were out across the street and Andy waved to them as he passed by. They waved back and Andy and Moxie headed back inside the house.

Andy locked up the doors behind him and made sure everything was good before he headed upstairs. When he got to Matthew's room he found Sharon and Matthew putting clothes away. He stepped foot inside the room and looked around. "What happened?" he asked as Matthew put more shirts away. "I couldn't find my pajamas," Matthew mumbled to him. "Oh, I see," Andy said as Matthew placed the last shirt in the drawer and closed it.

Matthew then climbed into his bed and Andy helped him with his covers. Sharon was laying out Matthew's clothes for the morning. They had enrolled him in a day camp over the summer. He seemed to enjoy it and every week, they did something new. Tomorrow they were going to the California Science Center. She made sure he had his camp T-shirt ready and also laid out a pair of shorts. "Good night buddy," Andy said to him and then watched Sharon kiss him good night. "Night," he mumbled and they both walked out of his room.

Sharon stepped into their bedroom and walked directly towards their bathroom. "I'm going to take a bath," she said to Andy as he closed their bedroom door. "Okay," he said to her as he closed the curtains in their room. Sharon smiled and turned around, knowing that Andy would be following her inside the bathroom. She turned on the water and made sure it was the right temperature. She started to lift her shirt up over her head and was met with two hands over hers. "Let me," Andy whispered to her as he lifted her shirt over her head.

He then caressed her side and looked at her bruise. It was now a deep purple with hints of yellow. He looked into her eyes and whispered, "I'm sorry." Sharon slightly shook her head and caressed his face with her hands. "We didn't know what was happening, it could have been bigger, there could have been multiple explosions," Sharon said to him but he placed his finger on her lips. "Shhh," he whispered again. "I'm sorry," he looked deep into her eyes. She swallowed hard as she stared back at him.

Andy then moved over to the bath tub and placed some jasmine bubble bath into the water and checked the temperature as the water filled the tub. Sharon watched him as he moved around the bathroom. When it was filled to the desired level, he turned off the water and held out his hand to her. Sharon took a hold of it and walked towards the tub. He finished helping her get undressed and then she stepped into the tub, slowly sinking into the warm water. She closed her eyes and let out a hum as she let the water soak her body.

She opened her eyes and saw Andy watching her in the tub. "You're not joining me?" she questioned as she splashed some water around the tub. Andy smiled at her. "I wanted you to relax and enjoy," he leaned in as he kneeled down next to the tub. She smiled and closed her eyes again. "I'll wash your hair for you and anything else you'd like," he kissed the spot behind her ear that drove her crazy. Sharon turned her head slightly so that she could capture his lips and she kissed him. She brought up a soap soaked hand and caressed his face.

"Please join me," she whispered to him. He stared at her as she scooted away from the back of the tub. "Okay," he stood up and undressed quickly. He then stepped into the tub, careful not to step on Sharon and scooted himself in behind her. Water splashed out of the tub, but that was to be expected. Sharon then leaned back onto Andy's chest and he gently caressed her as she relaxed. They enjoyed their time alone in the tub and helped relieve the stress of the past two days. He had washed her hair for her and rinsed it.

The water had started to get cold as Andy held Sharon in the tub. Sharon shifted in his arms and water splashed again. She pulled him in for a kiss. "I love you," she told him as she broke their kiss, needing air. "I love you too," he said looking into her eyes. "I hope this soak in the tub has helped with your side," he caressed her. "It did," she smiled and scooted away so that Andy could step out of the tub first.

As Andy stood up, he wrapped a towel around his waist and then held out his hand for Sharon to take. He helped her step out of the tub and then wrapped another towel around her. He pulled her in to his chest and held her there.

They got dried off and Sharon was towel drying her hair while Andy put on a pair of boxers and his Dodgers lounge pants. "Here, I brought this for you," he said in a gruff voice as he handed her a blue silk nightgown. She smiled at him and took it.

She then got dressed and met him in their bedroom. Andy was already lying down and she joined him minutes later. She settled in his arms and placed her hand on his chest. Andy was rubbing his hand gently on her arm. "Penny for your thoughts?" he whispered to her and she smiled. "This case didn't turn out the way I thought it would, and it just bothers me that Michael ended up where he did," she said to him. "Well, we try to save the people we can and sometimes, circumstances dictate otherwise and the victims end up being the suspects," he told her as he pulled her into his chest.

He kissed the top of her head and she ran her fingers across his chest. He always enjoyed that. "Sharon?" he whispered in a raspy voice. "Hmm?" she said. She was driving him crazy with her hands. Andy's desire was growing and she could tell he wanted her. Andy then flipped them over so that she was lying on her back and he was on top of her. He looked into her green, emerald eyes, and leaned down and kissed her. She kissed him back and they both deepened their kiss. She groaned when they pulled apart, needing air.

"Am I hurting you?" he asked her with concern in his voice. "No," she said and then she pushed him on his back and straddled him. She leaned down and kissed his lips. His hands went to her hair, which was still damp and they got lost in each other.

Hours later, sheets tangled between them, Sharon was lying on top of Andy. She was sleeping but Andy was awake. He had woken up a few minutes before when he heard Sharon mumble something in her sleep. He held her close to him and that relaxed her. He thought maybe she was having a dream about something.

All of a sudden, Sharon jolted up and gasped for air. She was trying to catch her breath and Andy was right there, helping her sit up. "Sharon," he whispered as she was breathing heavy. He sat there with her as she finally started breathing normally. Andy was worried about her. "I'm fine," she rasped as she sat there. "Is it your side?" he questioned her as he reached out to touch her. She shook her head no in response. "Want to talk about it?" he asked her not knowing if it was a dream that had caused this. She shook her head no in response again.

Once she felt that she had her breathing under control, she reached over on the floor and picked up her robe. She stood up and placed it around her body. She then walked towards the bathroom. Andy watched her walk away and close the bathroom door. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He stood up from bed and put his boxers and lounge pants back on. He grabbed his phone off the nightstand and placed it in his pocket. He then walked over to the dresser and pulled out a plain white t-shirt and threw that on over his head. He then stood there listening to the water run in the bathroom.

Sharon looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. Tears threatened to spill over and her chest felt like it was burning. She had that stupid dream again of Andy when he got shot, although this time it was different. She tried to remember the dream in her head. Andy wasn't wearing a vest, that's what was different this time. She looked at herself again and turned on the faucet at the sink. She splashed some cold water on her face.

She didn't know how long she stood there looking at herself in the mirror. A knock on the door brought her back to the present. "Sharon? Are you okay, sweetheart?" she heard Andy's voice through the closed door. She took a couple of breaths before answering. "Yes," her voice cracked. She dried her face with a towel and then opened the door.

Andy was standing there and she walked into his open arms and hugged her. "What happened?" he asked her as she had scared him when she couldn't breathe. "Just a stupid dream," she mumbled into his shirt. He rubbed her back as he held her. "Want me to make you some tea or something?" he asked her and she nodded her head. He knew that when she was ready to tell him about the dream, she would. He kissed her forehead and let go of her. He then opened their door and headed downstairs to make her tea.

Sharon then went to their dresser and pulled out a pair of pajamas and put them on. She then fixed her hair up and headed downstairs. She found Andy standing by the stove waiting for the tea pot to boil for her tea. She walked to the island in the kitchen and sat down on one of the stools there. Andy turned around and saw her. He moved her tea cup with the bag of tea over to her. "I thought you would want chamomile tea," he said to her. "Thank you," she said as she grabbed the cup on the counter and waited.

The tea pot started to whistle and Andy turned the stove off. He then took an over mitt and grabbed the tea pot by the handle and brought it over to Sharon, pouring the water into her cup of tea. "Thank you," she let the tea bag sit in the water for a couple of minutes. Andy placed the tea pot back on the stove and then opened up one of the cabinets and pulled out the bottle of honey. He then got Sharon a spoon and set both of them next to her. He watched her take the honey and pour a little bit into her tea and then stir her tea.

He stood there patiently waiting for her to say something. She took a sip of her tea and placed the cup back down on the counter. "Come on," he walked over to her and held out his hand for her to take. She looked at him and wondered exactly where they were going. Usually, they would go sit outside on the porch swing, but the wildfires in the area stopped that as they didn't want to smell the smoke. He lead her holding her cup of tea to the family room and sat down on the couch.

She sat down next to him and curled up into his side as she held her tea cup. They sat like that, her sipping her tea and him waiting for her to tell him about her dream. When she was almost finished with her tea, she placed the tea cup on the coffee table and leaned back into his chest. Andy wrapped his arms around her. "I had the same dream I've been having since you got shot," she finally told him. He kissed her head. She had told him about it when it first occurred. They both thought that was normal in the process considering what happened.

He listened to her as she told him about it. "Something was different with this one. You weren't wearing your vest and the bullets tore through your body. I saw it, blood was everywhere. They took you to the hospital but the doctor came out and told me you died. That's when I woke up trying to catch my breath," she said and tears started to form in her eyes again. "I'm sorry, sweetheart," he whispered to her and wiped her tears from her face.

"We've had quite the year, haven't we?" he said trying to get her to at least smile. She did a little as he continued to hold her in his arms as they sat on the couch. Minutes went by and Andy was still holding Sharon. "Do you want to watch TV, maybe get your mind off of that dream?" he whispered to her. "What's going to be on at 2:30 in the morning?" she shifted in his arms so that her head was now resting on his chest. "Hmm," he reached for the remote control. "I'm sure they're replaying a Dodgers game or something like that," he said.

She laid there in his arms as he flipped through the channels. He had turned the volume on the TV to low as they didn't want to wake Matthew up. Andy turned the channel to Animal Planet and they were showing an episode of North Woods Law. They were following the Game Wardens of Maine. "I don't want to watch a cop show," Sharon yawned. "But, this looks really interesting," Andy whispered. "Please," she said and he changed the channel again.

"How about a classic college football game?" he said as he settled on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish versus the USC Trojans game from 2005. "Okay," she said and Andy placed the remote down on the coffee table. He settled back into the couch and made sure Sharon was comfortable. They watched the game and Sharon fell asleep halfway through the second half of the game. The game was tied at 21 each. The next thing Andy knew, Sportscenter was on the TV instead of the game. He had somehow moved his legs to by lying on the couch and still held Sharon close to him.

Sprotscenter was showing the highlights of the Dodgers and Mets game from last night. The Dodgers ended up winning that game 8-0, only allowing one hit for the Mets the whole entire game. Andy glanced at the clock in the room; it was 4:30 in the morning. He didn't want to move because he didn't want to risk waking Sharon up. He reached for the remote control and turned the TV off. He settled back into the couch and continued to hold Sharon as she slept. He closed his eyes and fell asleep as well.

The next thing he knew, there were gently strokes to his face and nose. He opened his eyes and saw Sharon looking back at him. He smiled at her and she leaned down and kissed him. "Good morning," he said as they broke their kiss. "Morning," she said to him. "Thank you," she whispered. "For what?" he asked her as he ran his hands up and down her back. "For taking care of me," she simply stated and leaned down again to kiss him.

They stayed on the couch a little while longer, neither one wanting to move but knew that they would have to eventually. "Your back is going to hurt you later," she said to him as she started to slide off of him and stand up from the couch. Andy sat up and stretched his arms and neck. "I'm going to go upstairs and get ready," she told him as he stood up from the couch and followed her upstairs.

They made it upstairs, holding hands and Sharon gave him glances every other step. When they got to the hallway, they heard some scratching at the door to Matthew's room. Andy knew it was the dog saying that he had to go outside. Andy sighed as he let go of Sharon's hand. "I'll go take him out," he said. Sharon tugged on his hand before he let go and kissed him. "I'll take my time getting ready, perhaps you could join me when you're done?" she said to him as she turned around and walked into their room.

Andy stood there and watched her walk away. He then quickly turned around and opened Matthew's door and there was Moxie standing right there, wagging his tail. He opened the door a little more and the dog ran downstairs. "Hang on a second," Andy called out as he made his way down the stairs. He walked through the kitchen and found Moxie waiting for him to open the back door so that he could go outside. He unlocked the door and opened it. Moxie ran outside into the backyard, chased all the birds that were sitting on the fence, and did his business.

Moxie then came back inside the house and Andy closed the door and relocked it. "Do you want to eat now?" Andy asked the dog and his tail was wagging really fast. Andy still heard the water running from the shower upstairs. He quickly poured the dog food into Moxie's dish and mixed it with a little water. He then placed it on the placemat on the floor and Moxie started eating his food. Andy then quickly went back upstairs to see how far along Sharon was at getting ready for work.

By the time he got back upstairs, Matthew was up and the light was on in his room. Matthew turned his head to see Andy walk past his room. "Dad?" he called out and Andy stopped and turned back. "What's up, buddy?" he said as he stood in the doorway of Matthew's room. "Never mind," Matthew started to grab his clothes that he was going to wear today. "Everything okay?" Andy asked him, wondering why Matthew stopped him. "Yep," he said as he started to walk out of his room and towards the hallway bathroom.

Andy watched him for a second before heading back into their bedroom. "Can we have pancakes for breakfast?" Matthew asked as he turned around before opening the bathroom door. Andy let out a deep breath. "Sure buddy," he replied and then walked into their bedroom. Sharon had got him wound up this morning before he took Moxie out and all he wanted to do was be with her. He opened the bathroom door and walked inside, still hearing that Sharon was in the shower.

He undressed and opened the shower door and slipped behind Sharon in the stall. He started to kiss her neck and massage her shoulders. "What took you so long?" she said as she enjoyed the massage. "Moxie took his time outside and I promised Matthew I'd make pancakes," he said in between kissing her. She hummed and turned around in the shower to face him. "Sounds like you're going to be busy," she said as she smiled at him. "Oh, you have no idea," he said gruffly as he kissed her on her lips.

TBC


	11. Chapter 11

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 11

Three weeks later, the wildfire had been contained and extinguished. The team was not on call over the weekend and on Saturday, Sharon and Andy invited Provenza, Patrice, Dean, Nicole, and the boys over for a cookout and pool party. Andy was getting the grill ready as Provenza and Patrice arrived. "Flynn! You can't be in charge of the grill!" Provenza said as he walked through the back door. "Why not?" Andy said to him as he checked the burners. "Because you're a vegetarian!" he said as he sat down on one of the chairs that were set out in the yard.

"I'll have you know, old man, that I happen to be a fantastic griller. No one in this household complains about my cooking, only you!" Andy said as he tended back to the grill. Provenza just rolled his eyes as he sat there. "Besides, I'm having a turkey burger today, because it's part of my heart healthy diet that I'm on forever," he muttered to Provenza as he gestured with his hand.

Meanwhile, back inside the house, Patrice was in the kitchen helping Sharon. "What do you need me to do?" she asked her as Sharon pulled some vegetables out of the refrigerator. "Oh, well, you could slice these if you'd like," Sharon said as she handed the peppers to her. "Sure," Patrice said as she took the peppers and rinsed them under the sink while Sharon took out the avocados.

Matthew ran down the stairs and blew his way into the kitchen. "Hey! Slow down young man!" Sharon called out to him as he ran through the kitchen and out the back door. "Sorry!" he yelled back as the screen door slammed. Patrice looked at Sharon when Matthew ran through the house. "Boys will be boys," she said shaking her head and continued to cut up the vegetables into thin slices.

"How's Andy doing?" she asked as Sharon started to make homemade guacamole. "Um, he's doing fine. I went with him for his checkup last week and his cardiologist likes where he's at with his numbers. His EKG was normal and his medication that he's on seems to be working well," Sharon explained to her as she diced the tomatoes. "That's good news to hear, I'm glad," Patrice smiled and arranged the vegetables she had sliced on a platter that Sharon had laid out for her on the counter.

"And, how are you doing?" Patrice asked her. "Oh, ah, I'm okay," Sharon told her. "Your side healed up okay?" she inquired as she poured the low-fat ranch dressing into a side cup for the vegetables. "How did you know? Oh, wait, Andy informed Provenza and then he must have told you," she guessed. "Sort of, I'm sorry Sharon, I don't mean to pry, it's just when it happened, Andy asked Provenza if he could ask me if there was anything he should keep an eye out for with you, he was worried that you had cracked something," Patrice explained.

Sharon smiled. "No, my side healed fine and the bruising is almost gone, you can hardly tell anything was there to begin with," she said as she mixed all of the ingredients into a bowl. "For once, I would say Andy and I, health wise, are doing very well, for a change," Sharon added and they continued to chit chat about their husbands.

"Dad, are you and mom going to come to my game tomorrow?" Matthew asked Andy as he was still standing by the grill. "Uh, yes, we will both be there. I have a meeting tomorrow morning but afterwards, I will head over and watch your game," Andy said to Matthew as he started to preheat the grill. "When can I go in the pool?" he asked Andy. "When Avery and Colin get here, which should be soon, then you can go in the pool," Andy looked at his watch. Matthew then ran off into the yard and played ball with Moxie.

Andy took a seat next to Provenza. "So what meeting do you have on a Sunday morning?" Provenza inquired as he took a sip from his drink. "I have a meeting with my sponsor, no big deal," Andy answered as he watched Matthew play with the dog. "Is everything okay?" Provenza asked. "Everything is fine; it's just my sobriety anniversary tomorrow. Like I said, no big deal," he hesitated but explained to Provenza. "Does Sharon know that?" Provenza asked. "What is this, twenty questions?" Andy stated defensively, but answered Provenza.

"Of course she knows, that's kind of why we are having this little get together," he said. "Oh, well with her sense of occasion I was just wondering, no need to get defensive Flynn," Provenza grumpily stated as he continued to sip his drink.

Nicole, Dean, and the boys arrived at their house. Dean and the boys made their way to the back yard while Nicole stayed in the kitchen with Sharon and Patrice. "Do you need any help with anything Sharon?" Nicole asked her as she placed the special dessert she brought with in the refrigerator. "I think we're good, Nicole, thank you," Sharon said as she arranged the appetizers on the island countertop.

The boys ran into the back yard and joined Matthew there. They all started chasing Moxie around the yard as Dean made his way over to where Andy and Provenza were sitting. Andy stood up and shook Dean's hand. "Hey Andy," Dean said and Andy nodded to him. "Lieutenant," Dean said to Provenza and shook his hand as Provenza stayed sitting there. "Dean, nice to see you again," Provenza told him. "Hey boys, come say hi to your grandpa!" Dean yelled out to Avery and Colin.

The two boys then ran over to where Andy was standing and gave him a hug. "Hi grandpa," Avery said and Colin followed. "Hey guys," Andy hugged them back. "Matthew, if you want you can all go in the pool now!" Andy called out to Matthew and then Matthew ran towards them. "Come on! Let's change so we can go in the pool!" Matthew cried out and the boys followed Matthew into the house. They ran through the kitchen again.

"Hey! Slow down everyone!" Nicole called out to them as they passed everyone in the kitchen and headed upstairs. "They are at that age where they rush to go everywhere," she said as she turned around and continued to chat with Sharon and Patrice. "Yes, I told Matthew earlier to slow down when he ran through the kitchen as well," Sharon added.

The ladies continued to laugh and talk about their husbands and other things when the three boys came barreling down the stairs and started to run again through the house. "Boys! We are not going to tell you three again, the pool will still be there okay?" Nicole said to them. "Okay mom!" Avery and Colin said to her. Matthew turned to Sharon. "Sorry," he said and then grabbed some carrot sticks and brought them outside with him.

They ran over to the pool where Dean and Andy were now standing. Andy was making sure that everything was good with the water and the three boys waited patiently. Dean opened up the deck box and pulled out some pool toys for them, balls and some foam pipes. "Okay boys!" Andy said to them and they all jumped in the pool one by one. They made a huge splash that got Andy's shorts wet. "Hey!" he cried out as he laughed at what happened. Dean threw the balls into the pool and the started to play.

Meanwhile, Moxie walked over to where Provenza was sitting and laid down next to him. Moxie kept looking up at Provenza like he wanted to be petted. "I don't do petting," Provenza grumbled to the dog. Moxie kept panting and looked up at him. Provenza finally gave in and starting to pet Moxie on his head.

The three women walked outside and brought the appetizers and plates with them. There was a table outside and that's where they placed them. Patrice saw Provenza petting Moxie and smiled. She walked over to him. "I see he remembered you," Patrice said as she sat down next to Provenza. "Hmm, oh yeah," Provenza grumbled and then stopped petting Moxie. "You don't have to stop on my account," she laughed as Provenza sat there. Moxie then came around and sat down next to Patrice and she petted him. "Hello Moxie," she continued to pet the dog as he wagged his tail.

Nicole fixed a plate of appetizers and then walked over to where Dean was sitting by the pool. She offered him the plate and he took it. They sat there and watched the boys play. Sharon met Andy by the grill and brought out the hot dogs, hamburgers, and turkey burgers. "Here you go chef," she said as she placed the plate with the meat down by the table close to the grill.

"Thank you" he flashed his smile at her as he flipped the lid of the grill open and started to place the meat on the grill. That smile melted her heart. She stepped closer to him and kissed him before he placed more meat on the grill. That's when she realized his shorts were wet. "What happened to you?" she giggled. "Oh, well, the boys got me when they all jumped in the pool," he smiled at her. She smiled back at him. "Make sure you put a burger on for Rusty," she told him and he did. He then closed the grill cover and pulled Sharon in for another kiss.

"Flynn! What are we having?" Provenza called over to him which broke up the kiss he was enjoying with Sharon. "Burgers and hot dogs," he shouted back at him and shook his head. "Always the impromptu time with him," he muttered and only Sharon heard him. "That better not be a turkey burger you're making me, Flynn," Provenza came back at him. "I'll make you a regular burger, don't worry, unless Patrice, do you want him to eat a turkey burger?" Andy joked with him and chuckled.

"Oh, I think he can enjoy his regular burger Andy, but I'll have a turkey burger if you don't mind," Patrice told him as she turned around in her chair. Andy tended to the grill as Sharon made him a plate of appetizers. "I don't want you to go hungry, you'll need your strength later on tonight," she told him as she handed him the plate she just made. Andy took the plate from her and had to do a double take on what she said to him.

Andy looked down at the plate and saw her famous guacamole on there. "I love your guacamole," he muttered to her. "I know," she sauntered over to where Nicole and Dean were sitting. Patrice decided to join her and that left Provenza and Andy by the grill. "What's gotten in to you?" Provenza mumbled as he ate some carrot sticks and dip. "If I didn't know better, I'd say Sharon just propositioned herself to me," Andy grinned. "Ye gods Flynn! I don't need to hear that!" Provenza cried and threw his arms up in the air. Andy just chuckled and focused back on the grill, only guessing on what Sharon had in mind for later that night.

The kids had fun in the pool and Andy placed all of the cooked food on a plate that Sharon had provided earlier. They all sat around the outside table and Rusty came to join them. "So Rusty, how are things going at the DA's office?" Patrice asked him as they sat together at the table. "Oh, things are going fine there. Andrea's a great boss and it's interesting how much prep they do before going to trial," Rusty explained. "Well, it's good that you're getting experience for your law school," Patrice patted Rusty's shoulder.

Sharon looked at Rusty and thought something was off. She was going to ask him later if everything was alright. She then turned to where Andy was sitting next to her and listened to Provenza and him tell one of their stories to Nicole and Dean. "Yeah, those flight attendants, I knew they were bad news the moment," Andy started to say but then Sharon's eyes met his and he closed his mouth. "Yeah, sure you did, Flynn!" Provenza muttered but then realized Sharon was looking at Andy and he cleared his throat.

"On to another topic," Provenza quickly changed the story. "Sharon, I can't believe that my father and the Lieutenant here seemed to be always getting into trouble at work. How did you break them of their habit?" Nicole asked her. Sharon raised her eyebrows. "Oh, well, I'd like to take the credit for breaking their keen sense of trouble but I'm afraid I didn't do such a thing," she smiled and grabbed Andy's hand, intertwining their fingers together.

"On the contrary, Commander! When you took over Major Crimes, we were all scared of you," Provenza added. "Is that what that was, Lieutenant?" Sharon laughed thinking back. "Oh, well, uh, you eventually gained our respect," Provenza stuck his foot in his mouth and stopped talking. Sharon nodded her head and hummed. "I'll just shut up now," Provenza muttered as Andy stared at him.

"Can we go back in the pool?" Matthew asked them, interrupting the conversation. "Sure, sweetie," Sharon nodded and the boys took off again and ran towards the pool. "I'll watch them there," Rusty stood up and then followed the boys to the pool. Sharon watched him as he walked away from the table. Andy turned his head to look at Sharon. "What is it?" he whispered to her. "I'm not sure," she whispered back to him.

"Here, let's clear the table and then in a few minutes I'll bring out the dessert," Nicole offered as she stood up and started to clear some plates. Sharon and Andy started to stand up and help. "No, you guys cooked and hosted this party, you will both sit down and relax," Patrice insisted as she placed some plates on top of one another. Sharon and Andy both looked at each other and sighed while the rest of them cleaned up the table and brought everything inside the house.

"So, what did you have planned for tonight?" he whispered to her as he glanced over at the pool to see what the boys were doing. Rusty was still watching them. "Well," she smiled as she cleared her throat. "I thought you might want your pool party tonight when everyone leaves," she suggested as she ran her hand up and down his arm. He looked at her and returned his smile. "Can they leave now?" he joked and she laughed.

Dessert was brought out and everyone enjoyed the cake that Nicole had made. Provenza and Patrice were the first to leave their house. "Commander, I hope there will be no cases at Matthew's game tomorrow. I for one could use a whole weekend off!" Provenza informed Sharon as they were leaving. Sharon laughed at his comment. "Well, Lieutenant, I will certainly make an effort to not create a call out for us," she smiled as she held the door open for them. "Good night Sharon, Andy," Patrice walked behind Provenza and the two of them walked to their car and left.

"We're going to go too," Nicole said and Sharon turned around. She saw Avery and Colin already dried off from the pool with towels wrapped around them. "Thank you so much for coming today," Sharon gave Nicole a hug and then she hugged her step-grandchildren. "Good bye, sweetheart," Andy kissed Nicole on her cheek. "Bye Dad," she returned and then waited for Avery and Colin to join her outside the front door.

"Good night Dean," Andy shook his hand as he left the house and they watched them walk to their minivan and get inside. Both Sharon and Andy then turned around and saw Matthew running through the kitchen into the hallway where they were standing. "Can I watch a movie with Rusty?" he asked them as Andy closed the front door. Rusty was walking right behind Matthew. Sharon looked at Rusty and he shrugged his shoulders. She smiled at him and was glad that both Rusty and Matthew got along so well, despite their vast age difference.

"As long as Rusty is okay with that," Sharon suggested. "It's okay, I can watch a movie with him if he wants," Rusty agreed but before Rusty could join Matthew in the family room, Sharon stopped him. She was determined to find out if he was okay. "Andy, why don't you pick out an appropriate movie for Matthew to watch, nothing rated R, while Rusty and I talk for a minute," Sharon said to Andy and he nodded. "Come on Matthew, let's figure out what you can watch," Andy directed Matthew over to the family room and Moxie followed the both of them in there.

"You want to talk about what's bothering you?" Sharon asked Rusty as they moved to the den. Rusty flopped down on the chair. "Not really Mom," he shrugged his shoulders again and wouldn't look at Sharon. "Did something happen today at the library?" she asked him and he shook his head no. Sharon moved her head lower so that she would be in Rusty's eye contact. "Did you see Gus? Is that why you're upset?" she quietly asked him. Rusty huffed as he looked at her.

"I saw him with his boss from the restaurant, out walking at one of the shops in Beverly Hills," Rusty finally stated. "What were you doing in Beverly Hills?" she asked him. "I had stopped there after I went to the library to grab something to drink at Starbucks and as I was walking out, across the street, I saw Gus and his boss, holding hands," he paused for a moment and Sharon waited. "I got so angry when I saw that, it was like a punch in the gut," Rusty finished.

"I'm sorry Rusty," Sharon whispered and hugged him. "I know it was hard when you guys broke up with one another," she added as he pulled away. "Just, how was he able to move on so quickly and I'm like stuck," Rusty asked her. "Oh, honey, I don't have the answer to that. I know that it takes time and that hopefully, one day soon, you will find someone who knocks your socks off and treats you with respect and loyalty, and will always be there for you no matter what," Sharon told him. "Like how Andy is with you?" he stated, pointing out the obvious. Sharon smiled and nodded yes.

Andy walked back towards the den and saw Sharon smiling at Rusty. Rusty seemed to be in a better mood. Andy stood there until the exchange between Sharon and Rusty was finished. Rusty walked towards him. "Matthew picked out a movie and is waiting for you in the family room," he said to Rusty as he came closer to him. Rusty nodded and then continued to walk towards where Matthew was. Andy looked at Sharon and she shook her head.

"Everything okay with him?" he asked her as the two of them made their way towards the kitchen. "He saw Gus with Gus's boss today, they were holding hands and," Sharon started to say to Andy but Andy stopped her. "I see, tough for him to witness that," he grabbed Sharon's hand. "It was," she hummed and smiled at him. "I spoke to him, but I hope he will be able to get over this," she shook her head and didn't realize Andy was leading them outside to the backyard. "Well, I'm sure he will," he led her to the pool.

She looked around and realized where Andy had led them two. "I don't have my swimsuit on underneath my clothes," she informed him as he took off his t-shirt. He had worn his swim shorts throughout the day. "Oh, that's okay, as swimsuits are optional," he said with a grin and Sharon slapped his shoulder. "I am not going skinny dipping, with the boys inside the house," she scolded him. "Hey! Don't hit me," Andy pleaded to her. He looked at her hesitation and gave in. "Okay, go inside and get your swimsuit on, if you want, meanwhile, I will stay out here and make sure the water doesn't get too cold," he told her and flashed his puppy dog eyes at her.

She watched him as he got into the pool. "The water is nice," he grinned as he moved around the pool and watched her still standing where he left her. "It would be a shame to leave me here all alone while you go back inside the house," he gave her his sad look. Sharon hesitated for a second and then started taking her clothes off in front of him. Andy's mouth gaped at the sight. He couldn't believe she was actually going through with it.

"I did say that I wanted you to have enough energy for tonight, and I did promise you your own pool party," she smiled shyly, standing there in her underwear. She then slipped into the pool and joined Andy. Andy enveloped her in his arms. "I love you," he whispered in her ear as they swam around the pool together. "Have I told you that I'm very proud of you and your sobriety?" she said to him as they held on to each other. He smiled at her and kissed her on her lips. "Three weeks ago you thought differently," he mentioned to her and knew as soon as he said that, he wanted to take those words back.

She looked at him and shook her head. "I thought we were moving past that?" she said to him. "We are," he said and then dropped his head. "I shouldn't of said that," he mumbled and Sharon moved his chin up so that he was looking at her again. "What time are you meeting your sponsor?" she asked him as she slipped her hands around his neck. "Nine," he muttered as he watched her. His hands went to her back. She leaned in and kissed him, passionately this time, only breaking the kiss when they both needed air.

"I'll go straight from there to Matthew's game tomorrow, it's just a five minute meet with him," he explained to her and she nodded her head. "I'm glad your side is doing much better," he said as he pulled her closer to him. Sharon hummed as she ran her hands through his hair. They stayed in the pool a while longer. Andy had slipped her bra off but before they could get carried away, Sharon suggested that they step out of the pool before they got too cold.

Andy looked disappointed as Sharon got out of the pool. He watched her place a towel around her body and then pick up her discarded clothing. She turned around and waited for him. He reluctantly stepped out of the pool and placed a towel around his waist. The night air sent a chill to both of them and they walked back towards the house.

Once inside, they discarded their wet clothes and Sharon quickly pulled some dry clothes out of the dryer for the both of them. She got dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, while Andy put on boxers and a Dodgers shirt. They placed their wet clothes into the washer. Andy again pulled Sharon in for a kiss and as they broke apart, they were both smiling at one another. "Let's go check on the boys and then we can finish what you started out there in the pool," she suggested as she grabbed his hand and led them to the family room.

The movie was over by the time Sharon and Andy walked into the family room. Andy turned off the TV while Sharon placed a blanket over Matthew who was sleeping on the couch. Rusty had also fallen asleep as well on the other couch and Sharon placed a blanket over him too. Moxie raised his head and watched them walk around the room. He then settled into his bed that was by the TV and closed his eyes again. "They'll be fine down here, everything is locked up," Andy whispered to her as he led her up the stairs.

TBC


	12. Chapter 12

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

 **A/N:** Here is the last chapter of this story. Spoiler alert: I don't want to give anything away but... Stay tuned! Thank you everyone that took the time to read this story and leave comments. I really appreciate it.

Chapter 12

Morning came and the sun started the break through the windows in their bedroom. Sharon laid in Andy's arms and she was content in not moving. She knew eventually they would have to get up because she had to take Matthew to his baseball game and Andy had his meeting with his sponsor. Andy was gently rubbing Sharon's arm with his finger which made Sharon turn in his arms and smile. "Morning," she kissed him. "Morning," he mumbled back to her.

After they had placed the blankets on both Matthew and Rusty downstairs, they had come up to their bedroom and quickly divested each other of their clothes and made love throughout the night. Sharon shifted her body over his and placed her hands on his chest. "I'm going to take a shower, why don't you see if the boys are still sleeping downstairs and wake them up if they are," Sharon leaned into his body which made Andy groan.

"I have a better idea," he said as he flipped her over so that he was now on top of her. She squealed as Andy did that. "Oh, and what's your idea?" she asked him as she smiled. "Well," he started to kiss along her neck and made his way to her collar bone. "We stay in bed a little while longer while I make mad, passionate love to you," he kissed his way down her body and she reached for his head to bring him back up to her face.

Before they could continue, there was a knock on their bedroom door. Andy hung his head as they both heard the knocking. "Easy, my boy," Sharon whispered to him and he moved off of her. He quickly put on his boxer shorts and his shirt and looked at Sharon who now had the covers across her body. He opened their bedroom door and Matthew was standing outside in the hallway. "Everything okay?" he asked Matthew as he stood there.

"I was wondering when you were getting up. Rusty's still sleeping downstairs," Matthew stated. "We were just getting up, sweetie," Sharon answered him before Andy could say anything. "Good," Matthew said and then ran inside their room and sat down on the chair that was next to their bed. "Why don't you go get your uniform on for your game and I'll make you my famous pre-game breakfast," Andy suggested to him. "What's that?" Matthew asked. "French toast with a side of turkey bacon," Andy answered and that brought Matthew back to his feet.

"Okay!" he said as he ran out of their room and into his. Andy watched him and then once he saw Matthew run into his room, he turned to Sharon and smiled. "I would like your famous pre-game breakfast as well," she said in a sultry voice. Andy walked over to her, bent down, and kissed her. "Take your shower and it will be ready by the time you're finished," he said as she cupped his cheek with her hand. "You're so good to me," she whispered and he winked at her.

Andy made his way downstairs and saw Rusty walking from the family room towards the kitchen. "Morning Rusty," Andy quietly said to him as he didn't want to startle him. "Morning," Rusty mumbled as he rubbed his shoulder. "I see the couch got you," Andy pointed to Rusty's shoulder. "Huh? Oh yeah, it's deceivingly comfy when you first lie down but in the end, you get a stiff neck," Rusty stated as they both made their way into the kitchen.

Andy moved over to the cabinets and started to get out some frying pans to make breakfast. Rusty sat at the island and watched Andy for a couple of minutes. "What are you making?" he asked him. "I promised Matthew French toast and some turkey bacon before his game, and I also promised your mom the same thing," Andy said as he cracked some eggs into a mixing bowl. Rusty just sat there and watched him.

"How do you do it every day?" Rusty asked him. "How do I do what?" Andy inquired as he dipped the bread into the egg batter. "How do you resist the temptation of alcohol? I mean, you've seen a lot of bad things as a Lieutenant in the LAPD, aren't you just tired of it?" Rusty asked him and Andy stopped preparing breakfast and looked at Rusty.

"I've told you before, Rusty, I will always be an alcoholic, but I know what I have to lose, even if it's just a sip," he explained to him. "The support from your mom, even through the bad times, is more than I'll ever need to get through the day. And work, yeah, I've definitely seen a lot of things, but I've learned to take things one day at a time," Andy smiled and then started preparing breakfast again.

Rusty continued to sit there as Andy placed the bread on the skillet. "Before you dated Sharon, did you ever get jealous when you saw her with another man?" Rusty asked him. Andy flipped one of the pieces of bread over before he answered. "Sharon and I knew each other for a while, even before she became in charge of Major Crimes," Andy started to answer. "When she was in charge of FID, we would see each other occasionally, especially if I got in trouble somehow," he said as he placed the turkey bacon in the frying pan.

"One day, I went in to her office and I saw her there with another guy, someone I didn't recognize. He was holding her hand and I noticed flowers on her desk. When I first saw them together, anger came to mind, I needed to be in her office to size up this guy who was there holding her hand, so I went in and knocked on her door. She looked up at me and suddenly let go of the other guy's hand. She introduced me to the guy; I think his name was Charles. Apparently he had asked her out on a date a couple of weeks prior and she went with him," he explained and Rusty was still listening. Andy looked over at the hallway as he heard the water shut off from their bathroom upstairs. He knew Sharon was done with her shower and would be heading down soon.

"Anyways, long story short, I made sure that I hung around Sharon's office as much as I could. We would get into arguments here and there, she'd send me to sensitivity and anger management classes, but I knew I wanted to be in her life, anyway that I could. She was still married, but separated from Jack, but here we are today," Andy smiled as he placed the finished pieces of French toast onto a plate. "You want to grab some plates and set the table?" he asked Rusty as he was still sitting there. "Sure," Rusty got up and went to the cabinet where the plates were located and pulled four plates out.

"Your mom told me that you saw Gus yesterday with his boss," Andy decided to approach the subject that Rusty was dancing around. "Yeah, well, he can do whatever he wants now," Rusty muttered as he set the table. "Have you spoken to him since you two broke up?" Andy asked. "No," Rusty mumbled and then Matthew walked into the kitchen wearing his baseball uniform. Matthew sat down on one of the chairs at the table. "Here you go," Andy said as he brought the French toast to the table and Matthew helped himself.

"Maybe you two should talk?" Andy suggested to Rusty as he took a piece of toast. "He doesn't want to talk to me," Rusty stated as he started to eat. Andy was standing at the stove and placed the turkey bacon onto another plate. He brought that over to the table and placed it down. "I thought the same thing with your mom back then," Andy said and then Sharon walked in to the kitchen. Andy looked at her and smiled.

She was wearing blue jeans and a Dodgers jersey with a white t-shirt underneath. Andy walked over to her and kissed her. "You're beautiful," he whispered to her and she blushed but smiled. "Breakfast is ready," he said as he pointed to the table. They all sat down and ate breakfast.

When they were through, Andy started to clean up the table but Sharon stopped him. "Go get yourself ready, the boys and I will clean up here," Sharon placed her hand on his arm and looked at him. Andy nodded and gave her a wink. He then started to walk away from them but turned around when he heard Rusty call him. "Thanks for the talk," Rusty told him. "Anytime kid," Andy said and then went upstairs.

Sharon saw the interaction between Rusty and Andy and it made her smile. "So, what did the two of you talk about?" she asked Rusty as they cleared the table. "Oh, things, you know, guy stuff," Rusty answered as he didn't want to go into detail. Sharon smiled and nodded as she handed her plate to Matthew to take to the sink.

An hour later, the three of them left the house and Rusty stayed home. Matthew got into Sharon's car and Andy spoke to him before he closed the door. "Play hard today okay?" Andy pulled Matthew's hat down over his eyes and Matthew chuckled. "Hey!" he said as he moved his hat from his eyes. "I'll be at your game as soon as I can, alright kiddo?" Andy said. "Okay," Matthew replied and then Andy closed his car door.

Andy then walked Sharon around to the driver's side of her car and held her door open as she got in. "Drive carefully, I'll see you at the game in a little bit," he leaned down and kissed her. She smiled at him. "I will, you also be careful and say hello to your sponsor for me," she told him and he gave her a wink and closed her door. He waited until she pulled out before he got inside his car and did the same. Sharon turned right out of the driveway towards the baseball fields and Andy turned left to head to where he was meeting his sponsor.

Andy met up with his sponsor at the diner where they usually meet. He was already sitting down in a booth when his sponsor walked in. "Hey Dave," Andy greeted him as he made his way to the booth. "Andy, good to see you," Dave told him as he sat down. "How are things?" Dave asked him. "Things are okay," Andy told him and they sat there as Dave ordered a cup of coffee and Andy had a water. "Work and family good?" Dave asked as he sipped his coffee. "Yeah, they are. We had another tough case a couple of weeks ago, but I'm doing good," Andy told him as he played with his glass of water.

"Well, I wanted to give you your twenty year sobriety coin on your anniversary, so here's to your hard work every day," Dave handed Andy his coin. It was silver plated and had the words 'To Thine Own Self Be True' engraved on it along with twenty years. Andy fiddled with it in his hands and held it. "Thanks," he cleared his throat. He couldn't believe that he had made it this long. He had some difficult times in the beginning but it all had been worth it. He glanced at his watch. "Sorry to cut our meeting short but Matthew has a baseball game that starts in five minutes and I promised him I would be there to watch it," Andy placed the coin in his pocket of his jeans and stood up. "Thank you," he shook Dave's hand and then left the diner.

Meanwhile, Sharon had parked her car in the parking lot of the ball field where Matthew's game was being held. Matthew climbed out of the car and grabbed his baseball bag. Sharon then walked with Matthew towards the field where the other players were located. "Good luck sweetie," she waved to him and watched him join his team. She then sat down on the bleachers behind his team's dugout. She pulled out her phone and decided to check in on Emily and sent her a text.

A couple of minutes later, Sharon's phone rang and she saw it was Andy calling her. "Hello?" she answered. "Hey, I'm just leaving the diner now," Andy informed her. "Okay, they are getting ready to start soon," she told him as she saw the players take the field. "I'll be there as soon as I can," he told her. "Okay, love you," she said and she didn't notice someone sit down next to her on the bleacher. "Love you too," Andy said and hung up his phone. Sharon did the same and placed her phone back in her pocket. She then watched the beginning of the game.

"Hello Sharon," she heard the person sitting next to her say in a familiar voice. She knew who it was before she turned her head. She swallowed as her heart began to race. She turned her head to look at the person. "What are you doing here?" she said as she faced Bill Croelick. He smiled. "If I said I missed you what would you think of that?" he stared at her and she moved back a little bit. "I thought you preferred blondes," Sharon said as she turned. "Blondes always have more fun, but brunettes are more down to earth," Croelick told her.

"I didn't know your kid was old enough to play ball," he smirked but then realized Sharon wasn't in the mood for pleasantries. "Where is that Lieutenant of yours, hmm?" he asked wondering why she was at the game by herself. "He's on his way now, and if he sees you here talking to me, well I won't be responsible for the actions that he'll take against you," Sharon smirked back at him. "My, my, a little touchy this morning aren't we?" he said. "What's the matter Sharon, he didn't satisfy you this morning?" he gave her a sad look which then turned into a devilish smile.

"What do you want?" she demanded to know, trying to keep her voice down so that other parents didn't hear her. "What do I want," he whispered to himself. "What do you want?" he mimicked Sharon's voice and smirked. Croelick then looked up to see Andy walking up to the bleacher. Croelick smiled as the game was under way. Andy made eye contact with him as soon as he started to climb where Sharon was sitting. "Son of a bitch," Andy muttered under his breath and reached out to grab Croelick. He pulled him from the bleacher and forced him to walk towards a tree. Sharon followed them.

"What the hell are you doing here? Showing up at our son's baseball game?" Andy asked him but before Croelick could answer Andy leaned into him. "How did you even know we would be here?" Andy asked him and then patted him down to make sure he wasn't carrying any weapons of any kind. Some of the parents turned around to see what was going on behind them.

"Enough with the stalling, Croelick, what do you want and why are you here?" Sharon asked him in her Darth Flynn voice. "You might come across someone, he likes to start fires," Croelick stated in a more serious manner. "Like you?" Andy shot back and Croelick stared at him. "Worse," Croelick stated. "Why are you telling us this?" Sharon asked him. "Cause I want you to know it wasn't me who started the fire," Croelick stated.

"Why should we believe you?" Andy scoffed at him as he folded his arms in front of his chest. "I never lied, especially to you, Andy," Croelick stared at him and then glanced at Sharon. "So who is this person?" Sharon asked. "His name is Randall Myers, that's all I know," Croelick shared as he stood there. "And what is he supposed to do?" Andy asked him, not entirely believing what Croelick was telling them. "Start another wildfire," Croelick stated to them.

"We're going to have to get your official statement on this," Sharon informed Croelick. "Sorry Captain, but that's not going to happen," Croelick shook his head. "Listen," Andy grabbed him. "I'm not playing games with you again, you understand that?" Andy gritted his teeth as he spoke to him. Croelick just gave him a smile. "I've missed you guys," Croelick smiled. "But, my statement is anonymous and will remain anonymous," Croelick added. Andy stared at him. The rest of the parents started cheering for something happening on the field.

Andy let go of his hold on Croelick and Croelick fixed his jacket. "Now, I don't want you to miss the rest of your son's game," he said as Andy kept staring at him. Croelick smiled at him and then Sharon. "Bye," he smiled and gave a little wave as he walked away from the two of them. Sharon reached out and grabbed Andy's hand before he could go after Croelick. Andy watched him walk away. "Come on, let's watch the game," Sharon tried to get Andy's attention back.

He turned around and walked back to the bleachers with her and sat down, still holding her hand. "Do you think he was telling the truth?" he asked her as they watched the rest of the game. "Possibly, I don't want to worry about that right now," she said and he nodded. "We'll look into it tomorrow," she informed him and then they sat there and watched the rest of Matthew's baseball game.

The End


End file.
